LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




TfiOS. J. MURRAY. 



THE HORSE TRAINER. 

A TREATISE 

ON THE ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, AND TRAINING 

OF 

HORSES; 

WITH PRESCRIPTIONS FOR ORDINARY DISEASES. 

ALSO 
A SPECIAL DISCUSSION OF THE TRAINING OF 

,*>,.„ TROTTERS; 



s k-* 



WITH AN APPENDIX GIVEN TO THE 



Training of Dogs for the Field, 



AND THE SELECTION AND CARE OF COWS, 



BY 



THOMAS J. MURRAYi m ,tJ3 9 rf) / 







AURORA, ILL.: 
PRESS OF BUNNELL & WARD. 



\ 



Entered According to Act of Congress, in Decembet, 1888, 

By Thos. Jefferson Murray. 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 

All Rights Reserved. 



The Horse Trainer. 



THE AUTHOR MAKES HIS BOW. 



Books upon the horse abound, many of them appar- 
ently written on horseback. They are of two classes. 
One is learned, elaborate and expensive; usually writ- 
ten in technical language, above the range of the 
people needing the information. The other is pre- 
pared by men of little scientific knowledge of the horse, 
or of anything else. The object is to bring out some 
pet theory, or to champion a medicine, or to sell a book 
full of talks given first in the street and afterwards 
"published at the request of friends." The first class 
has too much learning to be of practical use, and the 
second, too little. 

The people who most need a book on horsemanship 
are the men who raise two or three colts a year, and 
who ought to do the "breaking" at home; or men 
who keep a few horses for their own use. These tw.o 
classes comprise the bulk of the horse-owners of this 
country, and I have written chiefly for them. I have 
shown them, I think, how to give to their horses ad- 
vanced values by increasing their capabilities and ser- 
viceableness and by prolonging their life. 

I commend to the careful reader the results of my 
own practical studies among horses, during twenty-five 
years. My experience has been gained in training 
more than three thousand colts, and in treating over 
four hundred vicious horses. I believe my conclusions 
are clear and strong; they are given without pedantry 
or parade; and I hope the reader will follow my sug- 
gested lines of inquiry out into deeper studies, over 
broader fields. 



INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS. 



Number. Page, 

i Catching the Colt in a Box Stall 26 

2 Teaching a Colt to Lead 28 

3 To Prevent the Colt from Breaking the Halter 30 

4, Bitting the Colt 32 

5 Surcingle and Foot Straps 36 

6 Controlling Colt with Surcingle 39 

7 Colt Hitched to the Poles 41 

8 The Process of Curing the Tail-Switching Habit. ... 47 

9 To Prevent a Horse from Jumping Fences 49 

10 The Eclipse Halter 56 

1 1 Nutwood 107 

12 The Mt. Vernon Mule 113 

13 The Pointer 139 

14 The Dairy Cow 153 



CONTENTS, 



Chapter. 
I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 



Page. 

Origin of the Horse, Prehistoric, Europe, Arabian. ... 17 
Horse Education, the Common School, College, Uni- 
versity 20 

To Owners of Colts, Better if no Need for Breaking 23 

To Halter a Colt, Use of pole, to Lead, to Tie 27 

To Bit a Colt, Lines, Quieting Him 33 

The Safety Surcingle, Foot Straps, How to Make. . . 35 

To Harness and Drive a Colt, in Poles 40 

The Fretful Horse, Not His Fault, a Bar Bit 43 

The Kicking Horse, the Tail-Switcher, Hard Kicker 45 

To Prevent Fence-Jumping, Surcingle 50 

Habit of Running Away, Needless Danger 51 

How to Ride a Horse, Saddle, Bit, Bucking 53 

Kicking in the Stall, With One Foot or Two 55 

The Eclipse Halter, To Make, Win With Gentleness 57 

A Balking Horse, Rarely Cured, Balking Colt, Whip 61 

The Bolting Horse, in the Cart, With the Ropes 62, 

Gaiting the Horse, Various Gaits, Gait Gives Value 63 
Lady Riding, Sitting, Mounting, Attitude, Horse 

Rearing 66 

Teaching a Horse Tricks, Soon Taught, A Bow, to 

Say No, Lie Down, Sit Up 70 

Tricks of Jockeys, Cheats, Makes Horse Lame, Balk 74 

How to Ruin a Colt, Stable, Food, Drive, Cold 76 

Trotting, Messenger, Hambletonian, Speed, Prices. . . 78 

Practical Trotter Raising, J. C. Callahan's success.. . . 81 

Art of Training Trotters, Ancestry, Qualities, Speed 82 

Age of Training, Feed, Good Care, Groom's Work 85 



CONTENTS. 



II 



XXVI. Standard rules as revised in 1888 87 

Average of Extreme Speed 1820 — 1887 88 

XXVII. How to Lay Out a Track, a Mile, Half-Mile 89 

XXVIII. Morals of the Track, Tricks, Honesty, Gamblers, Etc. 91 

XXIX. Structure of Hoof, its Nourishment, New Hoofs, 

Hoof Pad 93 

XXX. To Shoe or Not To Shoe, Modern Origin of the Shoe, 

the Greeks, Romans, Indians, Hon L. Steward 
Horses Worse for Shoeing, Normans 98 

XXXI. Shoeing, Cutting Foot, Corns, Rasping, Nails 100 

XXXII. The Age Told Bv the Teeth, Rules For it 103 

XXXIII. Nutwood, Sketch of, Ancestry, Character 105 

XXXIV. A Horse Absolutely Perfect, Sketch by W. H. H. 

Murray 109 

XXXV. Tbe Mule, Characteristics, Origin of in U. S., Profit- 

able 112 

XXXVI. Questions and Answers : Best Halter ; Fastest Time ; 

Highest Price ; Crowding in Stall ; Way of the 
Track ; Messenger Blood ; Best Bit ; Clipping ; 
Open Bridle ; Wild Blood ; Use of Whip; Horse 
at Cars ; Reproduction ; Sagacity 116 

XXXVII. Health, Food, Shelter, Russian, Norman, Britain, 

Box Stall 123 

XXXVIII. Remedies ; Twenty-five Well-Tested Prescriptions. . .. 126 

XXXIX. Miscellaneous Recipes, For Man's Use and for Beasts 132 

XL. The Dog ; Teachableness 138 

XLI. Dog's Education, Charge, To Come, To Quarter, To 

Retrieve, To Point 141 

XLII. ' Shepherd Dog ; Fourteen Lessons, The Watch Dog 147 
XLIII. Trick Dog, To Sit, A Bow, Get Up, Stand Up, Into 

a Chair, Jump, Errands 149 

XLIV. Selecting a Cow, Signs of a Good Cow, Breeding, To 

Tell the Age, Size 152 

XLV. Valuable Information, Weights, Measures, Etc 157 

A Few Good Bye Words 161 



A FAIR TEST OF MY METHODS. 



BREAKING UP ANY VICIOUS HABIT. 



Until I rescind this notice in the Chicago Horseman^ 
I will go, on call, to any place within 500 miles of 
Chicago and cure, free of charge, any horse of any 
vicious habit, on the following conditions: 

The horse must have his five senses and must be of 
sound horse mind; the breaking up of the vicious 
habit in question must have been tried and given up by 
the local trainers; I must be entertained free of charge 
while it is necessary for me to remain; no charge 
will be made for the cure, but half of my traveling 
expenses must be paid or guaranteed in advance; the 
other half I will bear myself; if I fail to cure I will pay 
all the traveling expenses, both ways. Address the 
Author, THOS. J. MURRAY, 

Sandwich, Illinois. 

November 20, 1888. 

This book will be forwarded, post-paid, to any ad- 
dress on receipt of price, $1.00. T. J. M. 



Testimonials. 



Ungovernable — Whirl Round and Run the Wrong Way. 

Somonauk, III., Aug. 20, 1888. 
I had a stallion in the year 1872, called Somonauk, that was four 
years old. He had a habit of turning round and starting after any team 
that he would meet in the road. In this habit he seemed ungovernable. 
After being in Mr. Murray's care a short time he was returned perfectly 
docile and manageable. 

H. WRIGHT. 

A Stubborn Kicker and Tail-Switcher — Unmanageable. 

Sandwich, III., Aug. 20, 1888. 
In 1887 I undertook to break a fine mare colt when she was three 
years old. She proved a stubborn kicker and tail-switcher, so as to be 
unmanageable by me. After Mr. T.J. Murray had her in training about 
three weeks she was returned to me a quiet, docile worker, without any 
bad habits, and so she continues in any kind of work on the farm. 

C. P. COY. 

He Would go Where he Pleased. 

Sandwich, III, Aug. 10, 1888. 
Early in 1888 I traded for a three- year-old colt that I supposed was 
broken, but he was unmanageable in the harness. He would go where 
he pleased After he had been in Mr. T. J. Murray's hands about one 
week he was brought back, fit for the cart or the buggy or any other 
kind of work. He has never since betrayed any kind of bad habit. 

AVERY CONE. 

A Hard Kicker in the Harness. 

Plano, III., Aug. 20, 1888. 
A.bout one year ago I had a three-year-old mare colt of so bad a dis- 
position, and so apt to kick, that for the breaking I took her to Mr. T. 
J. Murray. From the first she was a hard kicker in the harness and a 
tail-switcher. After about a month he brought her back as quiet and 
tractable a farm horse as any in this country. I was so well pleased that 
I freely paid double the price asked for the training. 

ALFRED DARNELL. 



14 TESTIMONIALS. 

Spirited— Unmanageable— Made Perfectly Gentle. 

Sandwich, III., Aug. 20, 1888. 
I had, in 18S3, a spirited mare five years old that had been hitched 
up once or twice, but she was so wild as to make it very doubtful whether 
she could be made manageable at all. After she had been in the hands 
of Mr. T. J. Murray, of this place, she came back perfectly gentle, so 
that ever since a lady can drive her anywhere. With this one, and with 
others, I know that Mr. Murray has had great success. 

E. A. MANCHESTER. 

Could Never be Made to Work. 

Sandwich, III., Aug. 10, 1888. 
In the year of 1883 Mr. T. J. Murray trained for me a very unpromis- 
ing three-year-old filly. She was of a mare that could never be made to 
work, and this was the only one of her progeny that ever submitted to the 
harness. Mr. Murray returned her to me perfectly docile and tractable, 
and I sold her soon after for $175, to be used for a buggy horse for fami- 
ly driving. She has always since been a trustworthy worker, double or 
single. STEPHEN ROGERS. 

A Bad Balker — Useless Unless Cured — Fixed in the Bad Habit. 

Sandwich, III., Aug. 8, 1888. 
This is to certify that I took to Mr. T. J. Murray a fine black colt, 
somewhat bioken but only to be made, as it seemed, incurably balky. 
He was well known as a very bad balker and he was utterly worthless un- 
less cured. He was firmly fixed in the bad habit. Mr. Murray kept 
him about six weeks, after which he worked right along and has never 
given trouble since. Soon after I got him back I sold him to Mr. Edward 
Thompson, of Sandwich, for a family horse for $185. He was after- 
wards sold to Mr. Henry A. Adams, of the Sandwich Manufacturing 
Company, and used as a fine family horse. GEORGE MASON. 



Col. Winchester's Eight Colts. 

Sandwich, III., Aug. 10, 1888. 
I have been acquainted with Mr. T. J. Murray's method with colts 
and vicious horses for twenty-five years, and I was so certain that he 
would find an animal that was more than a match for him that I have 
kept an eye on his work. I have put in his training, at various times, 
eight colts of mine, because I saw that he was the master of his business. 
Several of them were trotters, and were nervous and hard to manage. 
Mr. Murray made a complete success with them all. 

H. F. WINCHESTER. 



TESTIMONIALS. 1 5 

Runaway Mustang Mules — Become Well Mannered. 

Sandwich, III, Sep. 20, 1888. 
I am now driving a pair of mustang mules that were shipped here 
from Texas. At first they had to be tied and firmly held while being 
harnessed or hitched to the wagon, and when let go they would shoot 
away at full speed for three or five miles before they could be reined up. 
They were driven by several good drivers but they always had their own 
way. Finally I put them in Mr. Murray's hands, and after he had done 
the harnessing and driving in his own way, for about two weeks, they 
became good, quiet, tractable, well-mannered mules. 

P. S. FAIRBANKS. 



A High Tempered Colt — Trained, and Sold for $1100. 

Kingston, N. Y., July 30, 1888. 
To Whom it may Concern : 
In 1883-4, Mr. T. J. Murray, of Sandwich, Illinois, broke and train- 
ed for me two high tempered colts. He was very successful with them 
and they became quiet, steady horses. After about four weeks handling 
I sold one of them for a family horse, and the other has since been sold 
for eleven hundred dollars, for a road horse. I cheerfully and very 
highly commend Mr. Murray's methods of handling horses. 

EDWARD T. STELLE. 
Formerly of Chicago, now of Kingston, Netv York. 



Unmanageable Stallion — Kicked Furiously in Harness — Escaped 
from Keeper — a Biting, Kicking Terror. 

Sandwich, III., Aug. 14, 1888. 
I had a stallion, in the year 1878, that had been raised by my son, 
that was always unmanageable until he was trained by Mr. T. J. Murray 
of this place. When he was two years old my boys could do nothing 
with him. They could not even take him out of the stable. When he 
was first put in harness he kicked furiously and broke a man's leg. 
When he was three years old he was put in charge of an experienced 
keeper from whom he escaped and was retaken with difficulty. When 
Mr. Murray took him he would bite and kick and he was the terror of all 
who knew him. Mr. Murray had him in hand about three weeks, after 
which he was perfectly controllable, and he never afterwards gave his 
keepers any trouble. 

ENOCH DARNELE. 



1 6 TESTIMONIALS. 

Sandwich, III., Sept. 20, 1888. 

Mr. T. J. Murray and myself have been neighbors from our boy- 
hood; for many years he has driven his colts in training past my house, 
and I know his methods well. As the best man for the business, I have 
put under his management, at various times, six colts, all fine bred, and 
valuable animals. One was nervous and high tempered, and one was a 
bad kicker. All of them came out alike; good, quiet, tractable drivers. 

H. HENNIS. 



Every Coltish Vice — Wild, Nervous and a Natural Kicker. 

Chicago, Aug. 2, 1888. 
To Whom it may Concern : 
In 1882 Mr. T. J. Murray, of Sandwich, Illinois, trained a colt for 
me that had almost every coltish vice, which he inherited. He was wild, 
nervous and a natural kicker and exceedingly headstrong. He had never 
been hitched to any vehicle when Mr. Murray took him. He was return- 
ed to me, after three months, a good, quiet, safe driver. I drove him 
single and double about the city and boulevards for a long time with my 
family. 

I consider Mr. Murray an excellent man to break vicious colts and 
horses and make them quiet and gentle. He is careful and even temper- 
ed. 

IRUS COY. 



PART FIRST. 

WHERE LIVED THE FIRST HORSE? 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE HORSE. 

The horse has a respectable standing in the 
scanty records of pre-historic times. A horse with 
three toes, and a hoof on each toe, walked about in 
the hardening clay of the Chalk period, ages and ages 
ago. The present single-hoofed animal cannot be 
traced, with any certainty, to the three-toed horse 
whose fossilized feet are found both in Europe and 
America. As far as any records in the rocks are yet 
known, the horse of three separate toes, with a hoof 
on each one, went suddenly out of existence. The 
next record reveals a fossil horse that lived in the 
time of the mastodon, the exact horse of our own 
times. Our horse has but one hoof, and yet, as if he 
worked under a royalty from his three-hoofed and 
extinct ancestor, he has under the skin, just below the 
ankle-joint, a little incipient toe. Who will tell us 
whether this budding toe is a record of what our 
horse once possessed or a prediction that he will some 
day sprout additional toes ? One thing is certain, 
there are skeletons of the fossil horse that seems to be 



1 8 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

the direct ancestor of our present horse. 

Julius Caesar found in Britain a horse among the 
natives that was so inferior to the noble animals rid- 
den by his cavalry that the native breed was at once 
improved by crossing. The Romans also carried 
their fine horses into Spain where the mixed blood, 
under the fine climate, gained rather than lost. 
When William of Normandy entered England, in 
1066, his splendid horse was of Spanish blood. The 
Moors also carried into Spain the showy Barbs, and 
this upon the old Roman stock made the best civil 
and military horse of Europe. The Turkish horse is 
directly related to the Arabian. The Germans and 
French have selected the best bloods of all the old 
countries, and for military work they are second only to 
the English. England surpasses Arabia in the quick- 
ness, speed and endurance of her horses. The Persian 
horse is a son of Arabia, with finer form, but he is less 
fleet. This horse came to England in the time of 
Elizabeth. James I. and Charles I. and II., all patrons 
of the turf, imported horses from Arabia, Turkey and 
Morocco. From so many fountains have come the 
beauty and power of the British horse. 

It is a little remarkable, that while the later geolog- 
ical formation of both the Americas abounds with the 
fossil bones of the true modern horse, yet there did 
not exist on this continent a living horse when Amer- 
ica was discovered, in 1492. The Mustang of Mexi- 
co, the wild horse of South America and that of Aus- 
tralia can all be traced to European introduction. 

There are also found in Europe bones and rude but 
graphic outlines, carved on antlers and on stones, 



THE ORIGIN OF THE HORSE. 1 9 

which depict a smaller horse than ours, of heavy build, 
with large heads and shaggy manes and tails, much 
resembling the wild horse of southern Russia. It is 
not likely that the present horse of Europe has come 
from a native European ancestry. It is more likely 
that Asia, which was the cradle of the human race, 
preserved the horse in his beauty and usefulness from 
the earliest times. The war horse described by Job, 
who wrote before the days of Abraham, was quite the 
equal of Rienzi the charger ridden by Sheridan at 
Winchester. The light of civilization, which never 
was withdrawn from all parts of the earth at the same 
time, has always revealed the horse as we know him, 
toiling in the service of man. He probably entered 
Europe through Greece. He has been a powerful 
factor in every form of advanced civilization in all 
times, in both peace and war. It is due to climate 
and intelligent selection that in the varieties of horse 
there are such marked peculiarities as make the differ- 
ences between the Shetland pony, the modern trotter and 
the London dray-horse. 

The handsomest horse in the world is the Arabian. 
No other is so nearly perfect. There is no fine fam- 
ily of horses now living but that is tinged with Arabi- 
an blood. The Arabian horse at home is scantily fed 
and is unstabled, except as he shares the same roof with 
the family, but his royal blood contributes beauty or 
speed to every race track of Europe and America. 



CHAPTER II. 

HORSE EDUCATION. 

In some countries to this day the people do not be- 
lieve in educating boys. Instinct and painful experi- 
ence they think will give them all the learning that 
boys need. In like manner many people who educate 
their children do not believe in the education of colts. 
If the colt is taught any thing at all it is at the rough 
hands of the hired man. The horse is not allowed any 
credit for horse intelligence, for judgment, or sensitive- 
ness, or gratitude ; and it is an accident if he is not 
made balky, vicious or a regular runaway, or else lazy, 
stupid and uneven in temper and gait. 

Not every boy will repay the expense of a fine ed- 
ucation ; it may only serve to put a label on his in- 
competency. He may belong to a race of giant minds 
among whom a dunce is as rare as a cyclone, but you 
cannot cipher up his good points with a tape measure. 
His speed and endurance, his strength and docility 
cannot be guaged till after expensive and toilsome years 
on the race courses of life. But the colt does not 
finish his first year till it is legible all over him, to 
any one who can read the colt language, exactly in 
what kind of work for man he can excel and to what 
school he had better be sent. Some fine colts are equal 
to only the common school of the plow-horse, others 
will do credit to the academy for horses and "will shine 
as the general utility horse, useful, gay and dashing, 



HORSE EDUCATION. 21 

anywhere. The horse college turns out the trained 
and intelligent graduate that can do more sharp things 
than his governor can ; he will understand a tone or 
look, or whatever his master says to him ; he can play 
tricks on his groom and escape work when he wants 
to rest. The university horse begins with fine blood. 
His form and style are not made, but born ; his lineage 
links him to such kings of his kind as were carried by 
the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. He would pass 
on five points of examination ; he is of purest blood, of 
large and lustrous eye, of thin and sensitive nostrils, of 
faultless form and unconquerable spirit, and of a capa- 
bility of learning that has been sharpened by ages of re- 
fining cultivation. There is no mistaking him. He 
prances before the imperial carriage, or bears the com- 
mander-in-chief among bursting shells and whizzing 
balls ; or he is degraded to draw a beer wagon, but his 
bearing is so noble, his inherited gentility so evident, as 
to say, "My education was worthy of my birth and I 
deserve honor of all who know a well-bred horse when 
they see him." 

The art of the horse trainer seeks to make the most 
of the raw material offered him. No one can say 
that the limit of the improvability of the horse has 
been reached. The education of a horse in the cav- 
alry line of service is not undertaken as an object at all, 
but the horse comes to know his duty and to know 
the meaning of military music, so that without a rider 
he will form in line, or make a charge. Professor 
Bartholomew's twenty-one performing horses obey 
five hundred different commands, comprising two 
thousand different words. The colt is not often left 



22 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

at school long enough to be educated to the top of his 
capability. Much depends upon the way his owner 
puts him through his paces for the next year or two 
after leaving school. 



CHAPTER III. 

A WORD TO OWNERS OF COLTS. 

Keep on good terms with your colt ; he will feed 
better; he will have a better character. Do not make 
him live at the end of a long lash, nor as far away as 
you can throw a club. Let him increase the num- 
ber of his human friends as rapidly as possible and 
attach himself to them, so that he will leave his ani- 
mal associates to go to them. Do not send a colt to 
school or to work when he is under the weather. How 
would it do to take a man out of the hospital and put 
him on the road ? A little care and quiet rest may 
save a horse's life and also a veterinary's bill. Do not 
wait for him to talk; you can learn that he is sick as 
easily as he can that you are out of temper. 

Many a colt is timid by inheritance. It is not a 
fault, but a misfortune, and it should not be whipped 
out, but treated out.. It is not in his will but in his over- 
delicate nerves. You will lose time by becoming 
angry with him. Anger teaches nothing good to any- 
body. Suppress your angry tones and cruel strokes. 
Do not send his hot blood from his heart to his head 
to deluge his sensitive brain, driving him to frenzy, or 
blinding him with fear. First make him understand 
what you want him to do. Kind words and caressing 
touches will improve both his mind and temper. You 
will never fail in this way unless you delay the begin- 
ning too long. 



24 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

When he tells you that he is afraid of the harness, 
or of a covered carriage, or an upturned load of hay, 
depend upon it this is not an affectation, it is a serious 
business with him. The trouble is in his mind, not in 
his body. Flogging will not remove it. You must 
find a way of convincing him that he was mistaken as 
to the danger. Unless his mind can be changed about 
his aversions he will always be an uncertain, if not a 
dangerous, horse. His old fear, uncorrected, may 
sieze him any time. Convince him that he was wrong 
and then you have him. 

A colt is always more valuable for not needing to 
be broken. When he is old enough to set up in busi- 
ness for himself he ought to know the horse alphabet 
well. The halter, the bit, the harness, the words that 
mean "come," "go on," "stop," "back," and the feel- 
ing of pleasure under the owner's hand, should all be 
familiar to him from colt-hood up. One whose edu- 
cation is begun so early will be sure to develop a 
good character. He will never be balky, or scary; 
nor will he be a biter, or kicker, a runaway nor a 
fence-jumper. 

Most of what we call vices in the horse-character 
originate in his instinct of self-defense or self-preserva- 
tion. When he uses his teeth or his heels, or becomes 
unmanageable from fright, he is resorting to the only 
means he knows of for defending himself. As soon 
as he learns that no harm will come to him while his 
master is obeyed, and that his efforts to take care of 
himself only injure him, he will reform. The highest 
art of the trainer is to preserve all the original spirit of 
the noble animal and to convince him that his owner is 



A WORD TO OWNERS OF COLTS. 25 

his best friend. He will then be a much better and 
more valuable horse than that other one that was sub- 
dued into a broken spirited horse after he had become a 
strong, full-grown colt. 




No. i. — Catching the Colt in a Box Stall. 



PART SECOND. 

PRACTICAL HORSE TRAINING. 



CHAPTER IV. 

HOW TO HALTER AND LEAD A COLT. 

First drive' the colt into a box stall, a paddock, or a 
small enclosure, being sure that he cannot escape, or 
hurt himself by getting under, or over, the sides. Pro- 
cure a blunt pole, eight or ten feet long, and begin by 
touching slightly, any where about his body, his neck and 
head, until he becomes quite used to it. At first he 
may appear shy, or even become excited, but by keep- 
ing at him, and not hurting nor needlessly alarming 
him, you will soon be able to lay your hand on his 
neck and head. The great fear a colt has is the touch 
of a man's hand ; but the most sensitive will, with the 
use of the pole, become quiet and will allow the touch 
of the hand upon the body or on the head or neck. 

If he is vicious and inclines to kick, use the pole 
vigorously at the flanks, and when he grows quiet, 
walk up to him and pat him on the neck and head, 
speaking kindly to him until he understands that he is 
not going to be hurt. Then proceed by taking the 
Eclipse halter in the left hand, letting the colt smell of 
it, and placing it against him and over him, till it does 



HOW TO HALTER AND LEAD A COLT. 29 

not disturb him. Then buckle the strap gently about 
his neck and slip the rope over his nose. This style of 
halter has great advantages over the old style war- 
bridle, as it prevents the tearing of the animal's mouth. 
Sometimes a horse never recovers from the effects of 
the misuse of his mouth by a mouth-halter of the old 
style. 

The colt being haltered, the next step is to teach 
him to lead. Always keep your colt as good natured 
as possible and do not allow him to grow sullen. 
Step away from the colt eight or ten feet, not directly 
in front of him but at a right angle from him, opposite 
his shoulder. Never try to lead him ahead till he un- 
derstands the side pulls. Give him now a slight pull on 
the rope, saying, "Come here," and then allow the rope 
to fall slack. If he turns his head towards you pat 
him on the neck and talk kindly to him, but if he draws 
back or turns away, give a vigorous jerk on the rope. 
Keep at him on one side until he comes to you, and 
then try him on the other side. In fifteen or twenty 
minutes he will follow you about. 

This will suffice for this lesson and he may be put 
in the barn and hitched in the following manner : 

Take a five-eighths inch rope about twenty feet long 
and tie one end around his body just back of his shoul- 
ders. Do not tie the rope so that it can slip, but use 
a square knot, as the slip knot may prove damaging 
to a hard puller. Pass the other end of the rope be- 
tween his front legs, through the chin piece of his halt- 
er, and tie to the manger. In using this rope a five- 
ringed halter must be used, instead of the first one put 
on. 



HOW TO HALTER AND LEAD A COLT. 3 1 

Now that you have him securely fastened, shake 
something in front of his eyes, or in some way induce 
him to make the experiment of pulling back. A horse, 
in pulling back, throws his head high in the air. 
With this contrivance that is prevented, as it keeps his 
head on the level with his shoulders and the manger, so 
that he has no brace for a stong pull. 

A halter puller, or a bridle breaker, hitched in this 
way, will soon give up the habit. When pulling on 
the halter is corrected by making him draw on a rope 
placed under his tail, he is liable to injury and he may 
be disfigured, and it may make him sensitive for the 
rest of his life about the use of the crupper. This 
method prevents a horse from shaking his head while 
pulling and by it he cannot bruise his head or injure 
his eyes. This is the safest and best way of hitching 
colts and halter breakers, and from long experience 
I strongly recommend it for that purpose. 



CHAPTER V. 

HOW TO BIT A COLT. 

Place upon him a common blind bridle with long 
lines and lead him into some vacant field where you 
will have plenty of room. Throw one line on the op- 
posite side of the colt and step back and draw gently 
on the inner line until he circles around you. When 
he will do this satisfactorily throw the inner line over 
and make him go in the reverse direction. If he tries 
to jump, or run away, drop one line and draw him to 
you with the other one. Once in a while a colt will 
be found that cannot be controlled by any simple meth- 
od like this. He will want a surcingle and foot ropes. 
See cut on page 36. 

Nothing can be done with two lines when he begins 
to plunge or kick. Quiet the colt and go through the 
same process until he circles around you nicely, both 
ways. Now start him straight ahead, teaching him at 
the word, "Get up," to start, and to stop at the word, 
"Whoa." Drive him up to anything that you think 
might frighten him and never let him leave anything that 
he is afraid of until he goes up to it and finds out that 
it will not harm him. Let him see it on all sides and 
let him smell of it. Have him understand it till he 
will remain quietly beside it. If he seems really afraid 
of it go up to it yourself and let him see you touch it. 
He will have need to be practiced with the bit in this 
way for three or four days till he turns readily by the line 



34 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

to the right or left. Do not be in a hurry to set him 
to drawing anything. He will learn more readily in 
these first less'ons than afterwards. While he is learn- 
ing the use of the bit you will succeed better in get- 
ing scariness out of him than in any other way. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE SAFETY SURCINGLE AND FOOT STRAPS. ♦ 

This surcingle is so important in the controlling of a 
colt, otherwise unmanageable, that its description is 
placed here. It is necessary in controlling any colt 
that is fretful, vicious, a kicker, a runaway, or a balk- 
er. If there is any thing else that comes of willfulness 
or stubbornness this instrument is the simplest thing 
with which to secure obedience ; and it is at the same 
time the most direct, and the least harmful to the ani- 
mal. 

This surcingle is made of a strap of heavy leather, 
six and a half feet in length and one and a half inches 
in width, and it is doubled from the buckle to the third 
ring. This is the size of surcingle that I use but it 
may be as much wider as you chose, although I have 
yet to see the horse that one of these dimensions will 
not hold. Use an inch and a half buckle, and have 
holes enough cut in the strap so that it can be readily 
put on a small or a large horse. Put on it three rings 
one and a half inches in diameter. Fasten one about 
eight inches from the buckle, placing it lengthwise 
with the strap. Place the next one six inches from 
the first, fixing it crosswise on the strap, and then put 
the third one, lengthwise, six inches from the second. 

This is the kind of surcingle always alluded to in 
connection with the foot straps, described below. It 
is not excelled by any invention for runaway or kick- 




No. 5. — Surcingle and Foot Straps. 



THE SAFETY SURCINGLE AND FOOT STRAPS. 37 

ing horses, and it should always be used in teaching a 
horse to become used to strange sights and sounds, 
such as umbrellas, bicycles, top carriages, loose pa- 
pers, or discharge of fire arms, and it can always be 
used to good advantage on a fretful horse. 

To make the foot straps, take a strap of leather six- 
teen inches in length and one and a half inches in width, 
and fasten on it an inch and a half ring, about two in- 
ches from the buckle, or one inch from the loop. To 
use this surcingle with the foot straps, first put on the 
surcingle with the rings underneath and then buckle on 
the foot straps. 

Now take twenty-five feet of half-inch cotton rope 
and pass one end through the belt ring on the sur- 
cingle down through the ring on the left foot, then 
through the middle ring on the surcingle, through the 
ring on the right foot and tie it to the third ring on the 
surcingle. This is the method if you are driving double 
and the colt is on the off side, but if the colt is on the 
near side, commence to put on the rope from the right 
side, for in any event the rope should come between 
the horses. 

No horse, unless he is perfectly gentle, should have 
his first lessons in the poles without the surcingle and 
foot straps. 

This invention is just as useful for controlling cat- 
tle as for horses. When butchers bring an animal 
from the country it is very commonly done by two or 
three men on horseback, racing into every open field 
and garden; and so heating the blood and maddening the 
creature as to injure the beef. One man can, with 
the farmer's assistance, put the surcingle and foot straps 



38 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

on the cow or ox and quietly drive the creature any 
where. 



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CHAPTER VII. 

HOW TO HARNESS AND DRIVE A COLT. 

In harnessing a colt, first see that the harness is per- 
fectly safe, and see also that it fits well. Many acci- 
dents have occurred from an insecure or loose-fitting 
harness. Allow the colt to see it and to smell it freely. 
Then lay the harness gently on his back. Never be 
too hasty about throwing it on his back, but do so 
deliberately. When the harness is once on take it off 
again and put it on, doing so until the colt does not 
mind it. 

When first driving a colt with the harness on, do not 
put the lines through the terret rings, or the thill straps, 
for if he should turn on you he wonld be liable to run 
away, as you would have no way of bringing him to 
you, because drawing on one line would perhaps tan- 
gle him up, and you would eventually be obliged to 
drop the line. 

Now, after he is accustomed to the harness, and un- 
derstands when to start and to stop, he is ready to be 
hitched to the cart or poles. The poles are made of 
hickory, or any tough wood, nine and a half feet in 
length and two and a half inches in diameter, at 
the large ends. Put the small end of the poles through 
the thill straps, and pass the thill girth through the 
thill straps; and also through the staples in the poles 
sixteen inches from the front ends, and buckle tight. 
If the colt is wild, or nervous, use the safety surcingle. 
(See cut on opposite page.) 



42 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

If you wish to drive the colt double, hitch him on the 
off, or right hand side, as it will be more convenient 
in getting in and out of the wagon on the side next to 
the gentle horse. Be sure to make the old horse stop 
when you stop the colt. Have the rope so that it 
will come between the two horses. In driving single, 
have the rope in the left hand and the lines in the right. 
Give the colt a loose rein to start off with, and if he 
starts to run, or jump, pull the rope carefully. Do not 
throw him to his knees only as a last resort, and never 
allow the colt to run before you throw, for if he is 
thrown while running on a hard road he might be in- 
jured. Always, on starting out, drive the colt at a 
walk, as it will quiet his spirits, and it is no trouble to 
teach him to trot after you have him ' in the habit of 
regular movement. Keep the surcingle on him for 
three or four times, as it is better to use it once too often 
than not enough. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

HOW TO HANDLE A FRETFUL HORSE. 

Fretfulness originates in unusual sensitiveness of 
nerves, but it is often cultivated by carelessness in 
first handling. The owner, or the trainer, has failed 
to give the time needed for his delicate work, or he 
has fretted himself and has so started the habit in the 
colt. If you are cool and patient and give as much 
time as you ought you may do much to prevent the 
habit, or you may rescue him from it. If he is already 
fretful, hitch him on the cart after he has been practic- 
ed with the surcingle and the ropes, and obeys them 
well, letting him know that you have perfect control 
of his feet. Use a straight bar bit, and be very care- 
ful not to hurt his mouth. It will not do to let him 
get angry or excited. Start him slowly and if he be- 
gins to trot let him go for a short distance and then 
draw on the rope, at the same time pull on the lines, 
and steady him with soothing w^ords. Do not take his 
feet away under any circumstances, unless you are ab- 
solutely compelled to, as it may make him more excit- 
ed and wild than ever. When he starts into a trot 
draw gently on the lines and the ropes, talking to him 
soothingly till he gets into a walk. If he will trot again 
let him for a little and check him up easily and he will 
soon be as willing to walk as to trot. 

After you have slowed him down let him walk again 
and repeat the process until he will obey the lines 



44 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

without your having to draw up on the foot ropes. 
Do not be easily discouraged if the horse does not 
readily learn. It sometimes takes from three to four 
weeks to train one of a fretful habit. 



CHAPTER IX. 

HOW TO HANDLE A KICKER. 

You will find, as a rule, that quite a large propor- 
tion of the mare colts are inclined to kick. This is 
one of the habits that cannot be coaxed out of a colt, 
but it usually requires severe treatment for some time. 
Hitch the kicking animal to the poles, first seeing that 
the surcingle is secure. After you have taught him 
that you can perfectly control him by this means, drive 
the colt ahead, and, at short intervals, turn him quickly 
to the right, or, so that the pole will strike him on the 
legs. When he is about to kick, which 3^ou can tell 
by watching his head and ears, throw him to his knees 
and apply the whip smartly to his hind quarters. As 
soon as he is thrown, slacken the rope so that he can 
rise to his feet immediately. Always give him his 
feet instantly. When he gets used to the touch of the 
poles, use the hand pole by touching him on the legs 
and body, to test him thoroughly, and throwing him 
every time he makes a movement to kick. It will not 
be long till he will entirely get out of the kicking 
habit. 

For single driving, till all sensitiveness is certainly 
past, use a kicking strap, which passes over the hips 
and fastens securely to the shafts on each side. Even 
if the colt seems to have entirely given up the habit of 
kicking, great care must still be taken till the owner is 
satisfied that there is no danger of its recurrence. 



46 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

Avoid all causes that may excite the heels. Let no 
part of the harness or the whiffle-tree come near them. 
Gradually, in the stable, he can be familiarized with 
the touch of the hand and of a wisp of straw upon his 
legs, and then of the harness upon any part of his body. 

As a general thing a colt that is a kicker is a tail- 
switcher. This habit can be broken at the same time. 
Procure a small rope from one to two feet long. Fast- 
en one end of the rope to the end of the horse's tail and 
draw the tail over his back and fasten to back band of 
the harness. Now pass a surcingle around his flanks 
and over the tail, direct] y forward of the stifle, drawing 
it tight as possible. Great care must betaken, for, if he 
ever will kick, his heels will be up now. Start him for- 
ward, using the whip frequently on his hind legs and 
bring him to his knees as often as he tries to kick. 
After having the tail in this position for an hour it should 
be released. Care must be taken not to leave it tied in 
this manner more than an hour, as it will be seen that 
when the tail is freed it will hang limp and motionless 
for some time. Three or four lessons of this sort will 
cure the worst tail-switcher. I have broken up the 
habit of kicking in a great many horses and I have 
never yet left one that was not broken entirely of tail- 
switching. 

In 1883 Mr. Thomas Canham brought me a young 
mare that he was unable to hitch double on account of 
her kicking. He said he wanted her broken if it 
would not cost more than she was worth. She was a 
very bad kicker. This was not difficult to cure, but 
she was a very bad tail-switcher. I tied the tail back 
to the back band. The wriggling went on all the 



48 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

same. She kicked the box stall to pieces, got out 
doors and kept on kicking there. Then I unbuckled 
the straps and put on the surcingle and foot ropes, 
and then put another surcingle around her as far 
back as the flanks would allow, holding the tail 
where it could not move. She was then completely 
controllable, and soon gave up this unpleasant trick. 
I returned her cured and quiet in three weeks. When 
the tail is so tied up, it is indispensable to use the sur- 
cingle and foot ropes, as otherwise the work is useless. 
This is a severe method on the animal, but the lesson 
may be for an hour or so only, and the process is ef- 
fectual. Repeat the lesson till it is learned. 

The line falling under the tail, often causes a horse 
to kick, when danger always follows, and sometimes 
damage. What begins the trouble is suddenly 
and sharply pulling the line out from under the tail. 
A few raspings in this way may fix an ugly and dan- 
gerous habit. Begin with the colt, and leave a strap 
under the tail as long as he chooses to hold it. Let 
him often have the line under his tail and do not pull 
it away. Wait till the pressure slackens and then 
draw it out, or let it drop away. Only a few days are 
necessary to cure the sensitiveness of the animal about 
the line getting under the tail, but it can only be done 
by judicious and gentle treatment. The tail of a horse 
should be handled as gently as his head. When you 
adjust the crupper the tail must not be used roughly nor 
be rudely let fall when you are done. 



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CHAPTER X. 

TO PREVENT FENCE-JUMPING. 

Place the surcingle around his body with a ring di- 
rectly behind each forward leg and a ring on his back. 
Put a strap, with a ring on it, around the fetlock of each 
front foot. Fasten a rope or strap to the ring on one 
of his feet, — say the left foot, — pass it through the lower 
ring on the same side and through the ring over his 
back, and then through the ring on the opposite side. 
Draw the rope or strap moderately tight. This gives 
the horse freedom in walking or trotting, but will pre- 
vent all efforts at running or jumping. 

A horse is hardly accountable for the habit of jump- 
ing fences. The fence was poor to begin with, or the 
boys taught him to jump for the fun of it, or he fol- 
lowed the older horses that should have been broken 
of the habit long before. But the habit is a great in- 
convenience, and it ought to be cured before another 
day. 



CHAPTER XL 

TO CURE THE HABIT OF RUNNING AWAY. 

In driving a runaway horse some severe bit must 
be used; the best here is the Rockwell, in connection 
with the surcingle and the ropes. Take him into the 
yard and at every start pull on the lines and also throw 
him to his knees. At the same time use the word 
"Whoa." And here notice that you should never use 
the word "Whoa" to the horse unless you want him 
to stop at once. After a short time you will find he will 
obey the slightest pull on the lines. In driving him, if 
he starts to run, let him go for a short distance, and 
then, if he does not heed the lines, draw gradually on 
the foot ropes, thereby impeding his progress greatly, 
as it does not give him free control of his limbs, and 
in this way diverting his attention from his running. 
Then let him run several times and repeat and he will 
soon find that you have perfect control of him. 

Smaller towns and country roads are often made 
lively by the running away of teams. In the wagon 
or carriage there are often women and children. 
They are unable to help themselves, and they are 
often taken up injured or killed. No man who hand- 
les horses should allow such things to occur. There 
is no need for it. The driver of a horse^hould inform 
himself as to the civilization of his horse, and he 
should not risk the lives of the helpless portion of his 
family. With proper training any ordinary horse can 



52 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

be made safe enough for a woman to drive him. One 
horse may need a certain kind of bit, another- may 
need practicing under a firm and steady hand, but it is 
practically true that any horse can be made a safe 
driver. What shall we say of the man who by his 
carelessness or his penuriousness requires his wife and 
children to ride after a horse that every day endan- 
gers their lives ? There is no need for it and one who 
is once fairly warned, as is the reader of this page, 
should be held responsible by public opinion. No 
horse properly trained will ever endanger a life, by 
running away. 

After all a trained colt is much like a boy who has 
some good habits but that has not seen much of the 
world. He does not know everything nor is he proof 
against suprises. He is not equal to every emergency. 
It will be the safest to test the young horse well before 
putting the reins in the hands of a woman for driving. 
A lady's driving horse ought to be used in a livery for 
a year, or be driven daily for as long by a careful man 
before he ought to be called a lady's horse. 



CHAPTER XII. 

HOW TO* RIDE A HORSE. 

In describing this I will explain the manner in 
which to ride a Mustang, and after one has accom- 
plished this he will be able to ride any horse, for the 
Mustang is the hardest of all horses to break to ride. 

Place the saddle securely and use a bridle with 
long lines. Take him into the barn-yard and teach 
him to guide as you would in breaking a colt. Be 
very careful of the pony's mouth, as their mouths are 
very tender, and if they once become sore the animal 
grows ugly and unmanageable. After he begins to un- 
derstand which way to turn and when to start and 
stop, put on the safety surcingle, described in chap- 
ter vi, the saddle in the meantime having been 
taken off and the long lines substituted for reins. 
Keep hold of the rope only and teach him that you 
can at any moment take his feet from under him. 

If he is extremely wild keep him down, walk up to 
him and pat him on the head and different parts of 
his body. It is best with particularly wild horses to 
have one to hold the rope and the other to keep near 
the horse, patting him when he is down and trying as 
much as possible to quiet him. After he becomes 
sufficiently pacified, jump up against him and if he 
springs away or backs, take away his feet. Then 
hang upon one side and drop off again, repeating this 
until he shall allow you to mount him without drawing 



54 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

back* or kicking. If there are any reasons to be- 
lieve that your colt has a very unruly spirit, take no 
chances with him. Advance slowly and surely. Af- 
ter you have taught him the use of the foot ropes and 
surcingle, with these and an open bridle upon him, let 
some alert rider mount him. You can stand in the 
center holding the rope that controls his feet. Then 
let him go around you, turn him and let him go in the 
opposite direction, then straight forward, let him trot, 
or even gallop a few steps. Do not let the rider use 
the bridle except very gently, as the use of the bit 
may exasperate him. A few lessons with the surcin- 
gle and foot ropes will suffice to break any horse or 
Mustang for riding. And no horse trained for the 
saddle, in this way, will ever be given to bucking or to 
any other vicious habit. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

KICKING IN THE STALL. 

In the first place fasten a surcingle around him 
tightly. If he kicks with but one foot use the foot 
straps by placing one strap on the kicking foot and 
the other on the forward foot, directly in front of the 
former. Fasten a rope in one ring, passing it through 
the surcingle and tie to the other one, drawing it tight. 
In this way, every time he kicks he throws his for- 
ward foot from under himself. If he kicks with both 
feet, place the rope in the same manner, connecting 
all four of his feet. It will soon put an end to kicking. 
This remedy makes it impossible to continue the hab- 
it of kicking ; and a discontinued habit is soon forgot- 
ten. This method will also cure the horse of kicking 
at a person who enters the stable, or kicking at 
another horse. The animal should be tested well be- 
fore being pronounced cured of the habit. 

There are other methods that succeed by attract- 
ing the horse's attention to something else. For ex- 
ample : buckle a piece of elastic suspender around his 
hind leg above the knee. If he goes to kick this will 
compress the leg unpleasantly and it will so divert his 
attention that he will stop. 




No. 10. — The Fxlipse Halter,. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE ECLIPSE HALTER. 

This halter is made of a strap of heavy leather, 
thirty-six inches long and one and a quarter inches in 
width. Two rings are used : the first is a one and a 
half-inch "D" ring and it is set upon the strap cross- 
wise, six inches from the buckle. The other, a com- 
mon ring, is placed lengthwise with the strap about 
one-half an inch from the first ring. The strap is 
doubled from the buckle to the second ring. 

In fastening the rings in place, put two rivets be- 
tween the rings and four on the outside of each. 

For the ring which is placed lengthwise, a large 
rivet can be placed between the thicknesses of the leath- 
er for it to work upon, such as can be seen on all five- 
ringed halters. 

Tie an end of a half-inch cotton rope, twenty feet 
long, to the "D" ring. Hold the buckle of the strap 
in the right hand, and pass the other end of the rope 
through the other ring from the right to the left hand. 
Buckle the strap on the colt so that the rings come 
under the neck and the buckle on the right side. 
Then place that part of the rope that is between the 
rings over his nose. 

Held by this halter a horse will stand for quite a 
severe surgical operation, and also while being shod. 

If a horse resists bridling, put on the Eclipse halter 
and give one or two quick, energetic jerks with it, and 



5§ THE HORSE TRAINER. 

then try and bridle him again. In a short time you 
will bridle him easily and without any trouble what- 
ever. 

WINNING THE COLT WITH GENTLENESS. 

The Horseman gives the talk of a liveryman as to 
the treatment of a sensitive colt: " Many men imagine 
that when they know that the horse's head is a sort of 
rudder on his bow end and the lines are tiller ropes to 
steer him with, they are possessed of all necessary 
knowledge for driving and working him. Such is 
not the case, however. Some considerations of the 
animal's peculiar characteristics will be advantageous. 
He is naturally very desirous of doing to the best of 
his ability whatever he understands his master desires 
of him. But he is timid, disposed to be nervous and 
excitable, and when his nerves get the better of him 
his power of thinking and realizing what you want him 
to do becomes impaired temporarily. You should be 
able to see when he is so effected, and to distinguish 
the indications of that condition from those of vicious 
obstinacy or temper. It will do no good to whip him 
when he has an attack of the nerves. That will only 
make him worse. In fact that is the general effect of 
the whip. Soothe him, encourage him, speak placidly 
and kindly to him, let him see you and touch you 
with his nose as you do so, and he will soon be calm, 
intelligent and willing again." 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE BALKY HORSE. 

There is much said about the cure of the balky 
horse. If a colt balks it is the result of a mistake in 
his training. It is possible also to injure and abuse an 
under-fed or over-burdened horse till he loses heart, 
and he is never true again. For the time being he 
can be cured of it, but if he is allowed to rest for a few 
days he will fall into the vice again. If it is deemed 
worth the while to cure him, for a few days work, try 
it. Put him alongside a steady, true horse. Take a 
half-inch rope about twenty-five feet long, and, in the 
middle, wind in and out, old cloth, to make, for two 
feet or so of length, a strong solid rope, about two 
inches or more in diameter. Place the middle of this 
enlarged part under his tail ; cross the other two parts 
over his back and carry one through each of the 
rings on the harness that hold up the neck-yoke, be- 
fore him. Then fasten the ends to the end of the 
tongue of the wagon. Have a stay chain behind the 
other horse. When fastening the rope be sure that 
the horses stand even. Then start them and they 
will both go. The balky horse must not be injured 
by the rope. It must be made so large as not to cut 
or bruise the skin. He will step up to his work and 
if he has no vacations, or holidays, in which to forget, 
he will never balk again. But let him rest, as in har- 
vest, or in winter, and he balks again all the same. 



60 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

If a colt in training develops the balking habit it 
is by some foolishness in his handling, and noth- 
ing but instant and severe measures will save him. 
Put him in single harness, in the poles. Make a whip 
with a strong stock eighteen inches in length, and for 
a lash take a harness tug split in two, about fifteen 
inches in length, tying or nailing the lash firmly to the 
stock. Then start him. If he goes, all right. If not, 
strike him over the face with the lash, avoiding the 
eyes. Strike on till he moves away. If he throws 
himself, keep on till he gets up,- and goes on. Then 
if not inclined to stop himself, stop him soon, and after 
resting a little start him again. 

After working with him at the poles in this way for 
a while, put him in a breaking cart and get in to drive. 
If he will not go at all, give him more of the same 
treatment, or, if he will only go when you are on the 
ground, and not when you are on the cart, apply the 
lash again till he will go. If he refuses to go when 
you are on the cart, but offers to go when he hears 
you get off, do not let him then, but give him more of 
the lash over*the face and ears. Then, if he will go ? 
let him, and }^ou get on the cart. If he is struck on 
the body or on the legs he will stand and stubbornly 
resist, apparently not knowing that he is to move. 
But surprised and pained at the assault on his face, 
where he is so tender, he will make a start, and any 
start being made, he is likely to go on. Then if he 
stops again make a noise as if you were getting off 
the cart, and if he will go all right. 

There can be no objection to the exhaustion of all 
milder measures before resorting to this. If any milder 



THE BALKY HORSE. 6l 

method can be found, so much the better. There 
would be no need for this, if it were not for the mis- 
takes of persons who have taught the vice of balking, 
instead of training to better habits. A horse is like a 
man, in preferring to be struck any where except in the 
face. One blow in the face counts for more than a hund- 
red on the' body or legs in scaring him out of anything. 
I rarely strike a horse. I never carry a whip except 
for the two bad habits of balking and kicking. In 
training a vice of any kind out of a horse it is not wise 
to give up till one succeeds. It may not be done in 
one day, nor in a week. Patient, reasonable work 
will surely succeed in the end. 

It is not wise to become angry even if you have to 
beat him. If you allow yourself to become angry you 
are unfit for such work as training a horse. 

I have hesitated about giving any experience in the 
use of the whip on a horse. What I say here must 
not be taken for license for any needless severity ; not 
one unnecessary stroke. I have never had the slight- 
est trouble in avoiding the balky habit in colts whose 
training I began myself. The severity is only necessary 
to correct the errors of men who were ignorant of 
their business. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BOLTING HORSE. 

A young horse is liable to form the habit of bolting 
down some lane, or bolting into the road to the barn, 
in spite of all his driver can do. If permitted to form 
this habit when young, he will take the street that 
leads home whenever he is so inclined. It is singular 
that he never bolts equally to both sides, but only to 
the one to which he first starts with the habit. He 
will not turn to either the right or left, according to 
the way in which he is going, but he will shoot down 
only to the right, or only to the left. It is a very in- 
convenient habit and may result in damage. 

The most direct remedy, and always effectual, is to 
put on him the surcingle and ropes, and guide him 
past the bolting corner till he does not regard it. If 
he offers to turn, take him down with the ropes and let 
him know that he is powerless whenever he turns that 
way. Then -hitch him in the cart, with the ropes upon 
him, and drive him past the bolting corner, and let 
him lose his feet from under him unless he yields 
promptly to the lines. Touch him with the whip 
sharply to keep his attention to his restraints. He 
will not need more than three or four exercises like 
this till he gets entirely out of the habit of bolting. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

GAITING THE HORSE. 

The horse has three natural movements of his 
limbs, viz : — walking, trotting and galloping. In the 
first he raises his feet very little above the ground ; in 
trotting a little more ; in galloping still higher. Any 
horse can be trained to have a walk smart, light and 
sure. The trot should be firm, quick, even paced and 
strong, the fore legs pushed rapidly by the hind ones. 
If trained properly the trotting horse will of himself 
carry his head high and keep his body straight, and 
steady. If the haunches rise and fall alternately, or 
if the crupper rocks from side to side, the horse is too 
weak for rapid motion. The gallop is the resort when 
the horse tries to make speed. This can be modified 
into a canter. Some horses also amble or pace. This 
is moving the fore and hind foot of one side and the 
fore and hind foot of the other side, alternately. This 
gait is less quick than the trot or gallop and appears to 
be fatigueing to the horse. While this gait is natural 
to some it can be acquired by almost any, under care. 
Of all motions, trotting is the hardest for the rider, 
but all can be modified. Ladies and invalids want the 
pace and canter, drivers want the trot. The gallop is 
of rare use in this country beyond the actual trial of 
speed, and some of the uses of the army. 

The gait of the horse is defined and formed in the 
first few times that he walks away in the harness. 



THE HORSE TRAINER. 64 

No doubt he feels awkward, for his movements prove 
it. If his gait is left to accident it will most likely be 
a bad one, and it will greatly lower his value and abate 
the comfort of his owner, or driver. The action of a 
horse's feet is just the same in a walk as in a trot, the 
only difference being that the motions in the latter 
are more quick. Then to make an easy, free, rapid, 
graceful trotter he must first be a good walker. He 
should be practiced with walking till his step is free, 
even, regular and strong. His walk should have a 
litheness in it which shows that -every joint is free and 
that his movements are a pleasure to himself. He 
should be urged into a cheerful walk in which every 
motion he makes, bends and plays all his joints, as of 
the shoulders, knees and feet, When he has acquired 
this kind of a walk it can be quickened into a trot. 
This may be the supple, easy trot in which every 
muscle is in easy play, or it may be the rapid trot in 
which the horse gathers up all his strength and dis- 
tributes it equally through all his joints. Which ever 
of these trots he enters upon he should be kept at it 
till he evidently acquires the habit of it. You may 
know that he is. at his best, both in vigor and speed, 
when, with any urging, he springs into a gallop. 

The tracks on the ground as left by a horse are al- 
ways exactly alike as to position whether walking, 
trotting, or galloping and beginning at any one you 
count five to make what is called a stride. 

There is no part of the trainer's work requiring 
more skill and attention than gaiting a colt. If it 
should take a month to get the colt to feel comfortable 
and easy in the harness and to move off with perfect 



GAITING THE HORSE. * 65 

self-possession the result will pay well. The gait of 
the horse will oftener sell him than his style or color. 
If bad habits of movement are once saddled on him it 
is hard to break them up. Let the trainer have pa- 
tience. Make him a good walker, free, easy, and 
strong. Give him time to form the habit of graceful 
walking and then quicken the step into a supple trot, 
then into a spirited trot. When this is done you have 
improved his appearance and doubled his value. 

Leslie E. Macleod, in Patent Office Report for 
1887, says : 

" Rysdyk's Hambletonian was far and away the 
greatest of all trotting progenitors. He founded a trot- 
ting family with which none can compare and to which 
none approach, and his blood, it is said, " raised' the 
trotting horse of America to the highest point of excel- 
lence. " 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

A LADY ON HORSEBACK. 

No other than a most finely trained saddle horse 
should be offered for her first few lessons on horse- 
back. A lady's riding on horseback is not an art; it 
is the science of drawing willing obedience out of a 
well trained horse. The suggestions of this chapter 
are not for one who seeks an equestrian accomplish- 
ment, but for the help of a lady or a child just now 
learning to sit safely in a side-saddle. According* as 
the person is a child or a large person so the saddle 
should be small or usual size, and it should be set a 
little back and be well fastened on. If she rides often 
it is best always to have the same horse, and the ani- 
mal should be so tractable that the smallest flaxen 
twine would guide or hold him. When she goes to 
mount she should take with her a lump of sugar, or an 
apple, or a carrot, to give him, with many caressive 
touches and tones of kindness. 

She will stand close to the horse and place her right 
hand on the pommel of the saddle, and with her left 
foot in the right hand of her attendant, she will rise 
naturally and gracefully to her seat in the centre of 
the saddle. The reins, evenly adjusted, will be put in 
her left hand with the palm down and the whip in her 
right ; the left knee will rest easily against the saddle, 
and the left foot in the stirrup with the heel lower than 
the toes, the left hand will rest on nothing and yet be 



A LADY ON HORSEBACK. 67 

at rest, and the left elbow will be on a line from the 
shoulder to the hand that grasps the reins. The whip 
hand, the right, will be held to the front, not down, 
nor back, and if the horse needs the whip, a thing en- 
tirely unlikely, he must have it straight down the 
shoulder, remembering the saying that a good rider 
never needs it and a kind one never uses it. The 
riding habit must not be pinned under foot. Before 
starting she must sit up erect and keep that attitude ; 
hold the reins securely but gently, and not hard, and 
they must not be used to help her keep her seat. She 
must study to acquire a graceful balance of person, 
that will not bound out of place by any movement of 
the horse. 

Now, ready for a start, if the child or lady has a 
friend skillful in the side saddle and wise, she will re- 
peat to the learner her parting advice : " Do not lean . 
forward. Cultivate in the saddle the graceful attitudes 
of the parlor. Do not take a distant clasp of the bridle 
and then lean towards it. Keep the horse under the 
rider's will and control every instant. Turn him round 
corners. Urge him to do his best walking. The first 
exercise should only last an hour and have neither a 
trot nor a gallop. Be content to take the alphabet 
first. At leaving the saddle have a little reward ready 
for the horse, a lump of sugar, or an apple, or a carrot, 
and talk to him in kindly tones and with caressive 
touches of the hand on his neck and headf and nose, 
which he will remember and repay in service. " 

The first half hour at the next riding should be again 
a rapid walk with frequent turning of corners. This 
will teach the horse whose will it is that controls his 



6S 



THE HORSE TRAINER. 



movements. Later the horse may trot. The trotting 
should till lessons enough to acquire perfect ease and 
grace of posture. After this is done the horse may 
canter. Here will come back a tendency to lean for- 
ward, but it must not be allowed. If a horse is trained 
for a lady's riding at all he will, in a canter, throw his 
right foot first. The attitude on the saddle makes 
this the easiest for the rider. If he breaks in with the 
left foot first, stop him at once and start him again. 
The rider will soon learn to tell him by a twitch of the 
bridle how to put his best foot foremost. After being 
assured of her position, and she and the horse under- 
stand each other, she can change him from the left 
foot canter to the right without stopping him. 

If the horse should rear, she is to somewhat loosen 
the reins, pass the whip to her left hand and double up 
her little fist and strike him with it between the ears. 
Show no fear. If he comes up again hit him again. 
If you turn round and go home he will rear next time 
when he wants to go home, but if } 7 ou keep him down 
by strokes between his ears, and keep him going, he 
will most likely never rear again. At the same time 
you must be very sure that there is nothing the matter 
with the saddle. See to this well before starting. 

It is a great mistake to dismount when the horse 
rears. Give him the reins so that he can go on if he 
will. A stroke no stronger than with a resolute lady's 
fist on top of his head is a stunner, and will generally 
bring him to terms. A gentleman and lady were 
riding in England when the horse reared and he told 
her to slip off. She did not, but struck the horse on 
the head. The horse came up again and she saw his 



A LADY ON HORSEBACK. 69 

feet pawing above her head. The gentleman said, 
"Let yourself drop from the saddle, I always do. " 
But she dealt the horse another blow that brought him 
down and he never needed another. 

As to kicking, no horse can do this unless he is 
allowed to throw his head down. A horse generally 
gives notice when he is going to kick by the way he 
frisks his head and sets his ears. A gentle, steady 
pull on the reins will set his head too high to allow of 
any kicking. 

A lady needs presence of mind and security of posi- 
tion if the horse should rear or kick. This fact shows 
the wisdom of the first suggestion to practice thor- 
oughly in the first lessons. If any lady or child will 
study thoroughly these hints, and practice carefully, 
she will excel as a skillful and graceful equestrian. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

TEACHING A HORSE TRICKS. 

The horse was never made for a juggler. It seems 
incongruous to teach tricks to an animal that is, in his 
nature, so honest and so serious. You can depend on 
his speed, and on his strength any time, but it is a fraud 
on him to ask him to help you to deceive anybody. 
All horse tricks depend chiefly on one fine quality that 
he usually displays viz: exact obedience. The cuteness 
of the trick never enters his head. He knows what it 
is to be obedient without knowing why, and he can 
learn to obey orders about almost anything. He can 
remember also where and when to expect his food. 
The one who teaches tricks to a horse first commands 
him, and then rewards him. It makes a horse seem to 
be wise when he appears to obey a command to do 
something that is cute for a horse. He seems to un- 
derstand what you say to him, though realty he does 
not. He is either blindly obeying your command, or 
else he remembers that the chance has come to get 
something good to eat. His feats in picking up gloves 
and pocket handkerchiefs, and even pulling triggers, 
originate in efforts to find oats or apples. 

A new circus horse was once trained, on an emerg- 
ency, for a show, with only four days of schooling. Boys 
who handle colts that belong to them, soon teach them 
to do things apparently wise, as for example, the boy 
will tell the colt to stretch out his feet and rest himself. 



TEACHING A HORSE TRICKS. 7 1 

" Stretch " is the only word the colt remembers. After 
being often tapped gently on his forward heels and 
told to " stretch, " and after getting a nice bite to eat, 
he comes to obey without being touched. By repeat- 
edly asking his colt to shake hands, and at first pulling 
up the foot with a strap, and petting the colt, and giv- 
ing him a few grains of corn or an apple every time, 
the boy will find that the colt will politely extend his 
foot when asked to shake hands. As the right foot is 
the only one ever touched or asked for, it will be the 
only foot offered. It makes a horse look very sociable 
and friendly to hold out his right foot for a salutation, 
and he is, just like his owner, liable to get credit for 
more intelligence than he possesses. 

You can just as easily teach him to make a bow. 
Take a pin in your right hand, standing near enough 
to his breast to touch him. With the pin touch him 
lightly, like the pricking of a fly. Instinctively he 
throws the lower part of his head downwards, to re- 
lieve himself of the supposed fly. This must be ac- 
cepted and rewarded at once as his bow, or as his re- 
ply of yes, whichever you may have asked for. This 
must be repeated till he will bring down his head for 
seeing your hand move towards him. Or, you may 
from the beginning give him the signal by raising your 
left hand. Any sign agreed upon between you and 
the horse will do. 

Just as readily he can be taught to say no by prick- 
ing him with a pin in the withers. To drive away the 
supposed fly he shakes his head. Each attempted 
obedience must be rewarded with caresses or with 
some dainty bite. Before long he will shake his head 



72 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

to say no, at each motion of your hand towards his 
withers, without feeling the pin. You can soon train 
your colt in these ways to stretch, to shake hands when 
you come to him, and make a bow to you as you be- 
gin to talk to him, and alternately to say yes and no in 
quite a conversation. 

It is a little more difficult to teach a horse to lie 
down. It is always more easy to teach a colt to do 
this, for he is less suspicious, and he is easier to handle. 
The near fore leg is easily disabled by being tied or 
strapped up to the arm, then take a small strap and tie 
it around the right fore foot below the pastern. Then 
pulling quickly on the bridle, as he obeys it, you take 
up his right foot by pulling on the strap over his back. 
This carries him to his knees, where you hold him a 
little while, caressing him and talking kindly to him. 
If he offers to rise, draw promptly on the bridle and on 
the strap, and he will unwittingly obey you as you say, 
" Lie down, Sir. " Hold him down a while, talking to 
him and caressing him, till he loses his aversion to the 
posture. This lesson must be repeated often. After 
a while the right hand strap only, need be used, then 
he will surrender by only taking up his foot, and tell- 
ing him what to do. Then with practice he will obey 
the word, afterwards he will obey a motion of the 
hand. This is a severe lesson. It puts the colt in un- 
natural attitudes, and it is tiresome to him, and it is 
complicated, but if the trainer is patient, and firm, and 
rewards the horse well with kind words and good 
things to eat, he will soon obey the order to lie down 
as readily as he does the call to his dinner. 

A horse seems to do a cute thing when he sits up 



TEACHING A HORSE TRICKS. 73 

like a dog and seems to enjoy it, with a long face, while 
everybody laugfcs. It is not a hard thing to teach him 
to do. You must first notice the natural manner of* a 
horse getting square on his feet from the posture of 
lying on the ground. When he is half way up it is not 
hard to stop him and have him stand, the front end 
fully up, and.the other not yet moved from the ground. 
When he is down in this posture take your place be- 
hind him, with the bridle reins in your hand and the 
foot of a strong man planted on his tail. As he will 
spring up and straighten his front legs out as you call 
out, " Sit up, Sir ! " you tighten the rein suddenly 
and he will hold himself there. Now keep him still a 
very little while, talking appeasingly to him, and tell 
him again to get up, which he will very promptly do. 
This must be done again and again, always saying 
distinctly, " Sit up, Sir! " when that is what you mean, and 
always fondling him and giving him something nice to 
eat. There is no difficulty in inducing a colt to go 
through these lessons, or a young horse. It can be done 
for an older and heavier animal as well, but with some 
more care and patience. 

These simple methods of teaching the horse cunning 
tricks are enough to show that almost anything may 
be taught to a young horse. It shows also that the 
best method is kindness ; and that by as much as you 
make him obedient to your voice, by so much you make 
him a more safe and a more valuable family horse. 



CHAPTER XX. 

TRICKS OF HORSE JOCKEYS. 

Every one who has read the Vicar of Wakefield 
will remember how the poor, verdant son, Moses, fell 
among thieves when he took the horse to the fair and 
was himself taken in hand by the jockeys. If one 
goes to the dictionary it will seem a very innocent 
thing to be called a jockey, that is, a rider of horses, 
and yet it is commonly understood to mean a man 
who habitually trades in horses that are bad or in- 
different. It is generally believed that he can take 
any kind of diseased or crippled horse, and, doctoring 
him for the occasion, can cover, for the time, a fatal 
or incurable disease. If he has access to your sound 
horse for a few minutes, he can make him appear to 
be laboring under a chronic malady that makes him 
worthless. He can take his own horse, lame in one 
leg, and by making him lame in the other, sell him 
for a quick stepper. 

The wisest man in the world, as to horse flesh, will 
be the gainer, in the long run, if he does not trade at 
all with a horse jockey, buying, selling or swapping. 
If he does, he must expect to pay the expenses. 
Many a man is so fond of trading that he will barter 
away all the value he may have had in horse flesh 
when he began. A man, who could be named if nec- 
essary, traded often, for a year. He had two Very 
good horses to begin with. At the end of the year 
he had two horses vet, but not worth half as much as 



TRICKS OF HORSE JOCKEYS. 75 

the others, and he had paid out, in boot money, a little 
over $500. The moral of this is, a man had better 
know with whom he trades, so that he may know 
what kind of goods he may expect. 

A horse jockey, if he can get access to your horse, 
can make him appear to be badly foundered when 
there is nothing the matter with him. A horse can 
be made to seem permanently lame by running a hair 
from the tail, by the aid of a needle, through a certain 
muscle. By a miserable trick he can make the horse 
stand by his food and not take it till some one, who 
knows the art, comes and undoes it. He can take a 
cribbing horse, or a wind sucker, and stop all sign of 
the disease, for the time, by a certain operation on his 
mouth. A young countenance can be put on an old 
horse, a heaving horse can be made to appear perfect- 
ly well, and a true pulling horse can be made to balk, 
all by methods that injure a horse to do them. In 
fact, it has occurred that a man has sold his horse for 
utter unfitness for riding or driving, giving his charac- 
ter truthfully, and after the animal had been doctored 
and trimmed and painted, he has bought him again at 
ten times what he sold him for, under a written guar- 
rantee that he could do a large number of, what was 
for him, impossible things. 

No reference is made here to the legitimate business 
of breeding, buying, or selling horses. These occu- 
pations are usually in the hands of high minded and 
honorable men. They have nothing of character in 
common with the miserable frauds just described. 

As a general rule you can only get an honest horse 
from an honest man. 



CHAPTER XXL 

HOW TO RUIN A COLT. 

Always allow the traces to keep the hair worn off 
the sides of the horse, "and the hair of his tail to hang 
in ropes. His mane may toss on either side, or both 
ways. The lines and traces, from being often tramped, 
become weak in places, and, being liable to break any 
time, runaways will be frequent. The horse being 
left to cool in a cold wind, naturally coughs. There 
are draughts through the stable, and he has signs of 
rheumatism. The odors of the stable from the fer- 
menting manure heap are at all times stifling and the 
horse remains thin and weak, and liable to excessive 
sweating with the least exercise. Corn stalks are 
nourishing food, and cheapest when the horse gathers 
them himself. They are good enough in the mild 
weather of October, but in November they are scan- 
tier as* the weather is frostier, till in December he 
will both starve and freeze looking for broken stalks 
under the snow. For the rest of the winter he can 
eat oats straw, and as his appetite is better when he 
runs out of doors, out he stays all winter. 

When he is off for a drive for ten miles, give him 
the first mile on a tight run, and keep up the tune 
with the whip for the next nine. With a tight check- 
rein his head will be nearly at right angles with his 
spine, and he will look spirited. On arriving, hot, 
hungry, thirsty and tired, cool him at a post without 



HOW TO RUIN A COLT. 77 

a blanket, without a let-up to his body or a let-down 
to his. head. After two hours he returns the same 
way, and, as he is hot and jaded, let him rest at the 
fence before going to the ventilated stable. Feed 
oats in a manger with holes in it. In the spring he is 
too light for plowing or driving, and will be sold for a 
little beyond the value of the miserable hide, and the 
colt that takes his place meets the same fate. That is 
the way not to do it. This system even poorly car- 
ried out would ruin Rysdyk's Hambletonian, or Alex- 
ander's Abdallah, in eighteen months. 



PART FOURTH 

TROTTING. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

TROTTING IN AMERICA. 

It is just one hundred years since trotting came into 
special notice in America. In 1788, on a bright morn- 
ing in May, at the foot of Market street, Philadelphia, 
there was landed the English stallion, Messenger. 
He was gray, fifteen hands three inches high, was 
said to be thoroughbred, and was eight years old. 
His recorded ancestry ran back through Mambrino, 
Engineer, Sampson, Blaze, and (Flying) Childers, to 
the Darley Arabian, a full Arabian horse brought to 
England in the reign of Queen Anne, 1702-17 14. 
He had run in England with moderate success, and 
later ran a mile in three minutes in this country, He 
lived twenty years after his importation, and died on 
Long Island and Was honored at his burial by the fir- 
ing of a volley of musketry over his grave. His 
progeny were more distinguished than himself, for as 
trotting came on the turf, it was found that the best 
trotters were the descendants of Messenger. He was 
the grandsire of Abdallah, which was in turn the sire 
of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, both of these illustrious 
among trotters. And now, at the end of a hundred 
years since Messenger stepped on our soil, his descend- 



TROTTING IN AMERICA. 79 

ants are among the most distinguished trotters, or 
sires of trotters, on the earth. Prominent among 
hundreds of others are the names of Mambrino, Alex- 
ander's Abdallah, Rysdyk's Hambletonian, Dexter, 
George Wilkes, Phallas, Almont, Goldsmith Maid, 
Jay-Eye-See, Bell Boy, and Nutwood. 

It was not till ten years after Messenger received 
his final military honors, that there was a public trot- 
ting against time in this country, and that was in 1818, 
and for $1000. The occasion of this contest was 
that eminent horsemen declared that the horse did not 
live that could trot a mile in three minutes. A new 
horse, called Boston Blue, performed the feat and was 
honored much as a new horse would be in 1889 that 
should do the same thing in two minutes. Turfmen 
fix on 1830 as the time when trotting had become so 
popular in this country as to become an established 
sport. 

The turf has a future in the United States that can 
now be but very dimly outlined. The time for trot- 
ting a mile shortens continually ; the price of fast trot- 
ters goes up all the time; and the candidates for dis- 
tinction in speed are greatly increasing every year. 
In England, while the number of tracks has fallen off 
one-half in fifty years, the value of the stakes is on the 
increase, and no other amusement awakens half so 
much enthusiasm among all classes. 

The cultivation of speed in trotting carries with it 
improvement in the qualities of endurance and docility. 
In Arabia, where the average speed of the horse is the 
greatest in the world, there also the horse is a lighter 
feeder, and he is more kindly in spirit than anywhere 



SO THE HORSE TRAINER. 

else. We can form some idea of the almost winged 
speed of a swift horse, from the fact that the flying 
Childers, son of Darley Arabian, was known to pass 
over eighty-two and a half feet in a second of time, a 
rapidity that surprised the world a hundred and fifty 
years ago, but surpassed since by Lexington, an Amer- 
ican. The photograph of a fast trotter has been 
taken, showing every foot off the ground at the same 
instant. As the very definition of trotting is, that, al- 
ternately, two feet are in the air and the other two on 
the ground at the same instant and on opposite sides, 
it follows that if all the feet are off the ground at once, 
that the horse must be, for a part of the time, actually 
flying without wings. 

It has come about that price and speed are going 
upward together with equal step. As it is well known 
that the best class of sires impress their own character- 
istics upon their offspring, it is quite possible for any 
well appointed stock farm to amass for its owner a 
fortune. Nor need he wait but a very short time till 
he begins to reap his golden harvest. When a breed- 
er refuses sixteen thousand dollars for a three year 
old filly, or a suckling is sold at auction for $375°? or 
a trotting stallion brings at auction $50,000, there 
must be long money in the business of breeding, for 
many years to come. 

There are well known families of trotters other 
than the Messenger, or the line known later as the 
Hambletonian, as for example, the Morgans and 
Bashaws, the account of which our limits rule out. 
Constant accessions are being made to the trotting 
aristocracy. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

PRACTICAL TROTTER TRAINING. 

Many readers of this book will be grateful for the 
next two chapters from the pen of Joseph C. Callahan, 
a farmer, residing four miles south of Sandwich, Illi- 
nois. For fifteen years he has given careful and in- 
telligent attention to training colts for trotting. He is 
also a breeder of horses, looking chiefly to speed. 
That he has been successful, so that he knows what 
he is talking about, is abundantly proved by the fol- 
lowing five lines from his record: 

OWNER AND TRAINER OF 

"Callahan's Maid, 

"Troubadour, 

"Nettie C, 

"Billy K, - 

" Trainer of Sir Knight, - 
With this introduction to Mr. Callahan you will 
read with great interest what he says on the practical 
subject of breeding and educating trotters, in the next 
five pages. 



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CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE ART OF TRAINING TROTTERS. 
BY J. C. CALLAHAN. 

Victor Hugo has the credit of saying : "If you want 
to reform a man you must begin with his grandmother." 
If you want to raise a trotter yoa must begin several 
generations back. A good trotter never comes by ac- 
cident, but he is the result of careful breeding. He is 
the product of years of careful work in selecting and 
in reproducing the qualities that make for speed. If 
you want to raise a fast trotter you cannot wait for a 
dozen generations of horses to develop the qualities of 
speed for you ; you will have to build on the work 
done for many years before you begin, and you can 
select a sire and a dam, if you will, that will bring you 
what you want. In the first place, the mare must 
have intelligence; what we call good horse sense. 
Then she must have good limbs and feet, for poor 
limbs cannot stand the wear and tear of hard trotting. 
Indifferent limbs might stand it to trot a mile in three 
minutes, or possibly in 2 : 40, but no horse can trot 
heats in the twenties, or lower, unless his limbs are 
perfect. Thirdly, select a mare that has the right 
way of going, good knee action, a long stride, and one 
that goes wide behind. This is the best way of go- 
ing, for a horse that is gaited this way goes with the 
least friction. But almost every horse has some pecu- 



THE ART OF TRAINING TROTTERS. 83 

liarity of action, and the main thing is to get there ; 
but a horse must either be a long strider, or else be 
very rapid gaited to be a fast trotter. The long strid- 
er will gain in speed the fastest but he is more liable 
to strains of various kinds because he covers more 
ground at one step and therefore uses more strength. 
In selecting a stallion you will look for the same 
qualities just mentioned as being needed in the mare. 
Do not be misled by pedigree. You are to take the 
qualities that you want to have reproduced and look for 
them more in the horse himself than in his ancestors. 
He may have failed to inherit the ancestral speed and 
it may never appear in his progeny. You are aiming 
to produce a fast trotter, then look for the exact qual- 
ities in the sire, that you wish to reproduce. There 
are scores of standard bred horses that cannot trot, 
and no skill of trainers or drivers can make them go, 
for it is not in them. Breeding is all right when you 
have a performer, but what is a pedigree without the 
horse? There was a full brother to Rarus that could 
not trot a mile in 3:00. Maud S. has brothers and 
sisters, but you do not hear of any 2 : 10 among them. 
In the fifteen years that I have been driving and edu- 
cating trotters, I have only driven one standard bred 
horse and he was the poorest of the whole lot. He 
had but one redeeming quality and that was pluck ; in 
that he was a regular bull dog, but that was a poor 
substitute for speed in a trotter: but such horses as 
Troubadour, 2:18, or Sir Knight, 2:23^, not bred 
strictly to the rule, were his superiors by far. It is 
common now for moneyed men to pay high prices for 
pedigree, but in my opinion there is more real value 



84 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

in the horse that excels on the turf, whatever may 
have been the breeding. 

We had good horses ten and twenty years ago, 
when they had longer and harder races than we have 
now. And now, well, as our horses perform in our 
time, and by our methods, I believe that if our horses 
were tried in the kind of races of twenty years ago, 
they would make no better records than were made 
then. I will give my reasons for thinking so and if I 
am wrong I will be glad to be set right : The way a 
thoroughbred is produced is by inbreeding, and the 
closer you inbreed the more pure the strain of blood 
becomes, but you diminish the animal in size and you 
weaken the constitution. You can produce a thorough- 
bred by breeding as closely as possible for four cross- 
es, then you have a clear strain of blood either in 
horses, cattle, or hogs. Some trotters are so closely 
inbred, and have been for years, that there is no vital- 
ity left. It often happens that to cross out and not 
get a standard animal has a good result. There are 
some rules that have no exceptions; one is, breed to 
trotters for trotters; and another is, that you cannot 
get something out of nothing. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

HOW TO DEVELOP SPEED. 

When you are ready to develop speed let your 
young trotter be somewhat matured; four years will 
do, but five are better. Shoe him tolerably heavy for- 
ward and as light as possible behind. Most new be- 
ginners go too low in front, and a little weight gives 
them more knee action, and gets them started sooner. 
Try and get your colt gaited right at the start; have 
him go square and level, every lick just alike. Let 
him take a jog of four or five miles on the course, or 
on a good road, and keep increasing the gait toward 
the last and finally end up the last half as fast as he 
can trot. Do not rush him off the square gait I have 
alluded to. It is better to slow him up than to have 
him begin to hitch or single foot ; if he reaches out and 
shows you a nice gait do not speed him too far to 
make him tired or discouraged, but stop him while he 
is doing well ; the next day you can go through the 
same course, and if you do not overdo him he will 
make improvement in something or other every time 
he is out. Do not lose your patience about anything. 
Fast trotters are not made in a week, nor in a year, 
and if he fails to do well to-day he will not fail some 
other day. A colt of good parts sometimes fails to 
make a trotter, for no fault of his, but of his trainer. 

Feed a colt, that is in training for a trotter, enough 
of good food to keep him strong. The method of 



86 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

drawing or starving them is a thing of the past, and 
trotters of to-day can have plenty of good hay, and 
thirty minutes at grass every day, and still trot ; and 
we make trotters in one half the time they used to. A 
colt should be empty when he is trotting, but after 
work nothing is too good for him. My method is to 
feed only oats, and not over two gallons of water, till 
they have been worked out and then I feed him well ; 
starving a horse will not promote his speed. 

When a horse has been warmed by trotting he 
should not cool off too quickly. He should be covered 
well, and kept out of any draught, so he will cool off 
gradually. Then the muscles will not become stiff, 
and no bad results will follow. A horse should never 
stand with his breast to the wind ; the opposite is far 
safer for any horse. 

The legs of a trotter should be well taken care of ; 
no horse will go at his best if there is any stiffness or 
any fever in his legs. It takes a master mechanic to 
keep a horse's legs all right, and be trotting him in the 
twenties or less. He will need bandages, arnica, 
Pond's extract, bay-rum and high wines, and the horse 
will need grooming and rubbing, and food and water, 
at regular times, and time for rest and sleep. The 
man who has the care of a fast trotter has more to do 
with the animal's success than the driver has. Some 
horses seem able to endure any kind of irregularity 
and never seem to mind it, never get bruised or lamed 
or worn out, while others need a board of health and a 
drug store to keep them all right. He keeps on the 
safe side who allows no possibility of accident as to 
wind or limb, food or rest, heat, cold or exercise. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

STANDARD RULES. 

The American trotter has the best record in the 
world. The breeding of trotters is now brought to 
great perfection. There has grown up a trotter aris- 
tocracy among horsemen which is growing so rigid 
in its rules, and speed is increasing so rapidly, that the 
time is probably near when a mile will be made in 2 :oo. 

The rules governing admission of horses to standard 
rank have been somewhat amended this year, (1888,) 
so that they now stand as follows: 

1. Any stallion that has himself a record of 2:30 
or better, provided any of his get has a record of 2: 35 
or better, or provided his sire or dam is already a 
standard animal. 

2. Any mare or gelding that has a record of 2: 30 
or better. 

3. Any horse that is the sire of two animals with a 
record of 2 : 30 or better. 

4. Any horse that is the sire of one animal with a 
record of 2 : 30 or better, provided that he has either 
of the following qualifications: [A] a record himself 
of 2:30 or better; [B] is the sire of two other ani- 
mals with a record or 2:30 or better; [C] has a sire 
or dam that is already a standard animal. 

5. Any mare that has produced an animal with a 
record of 2 : 30 or better. 



88 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

6. A progeny of a standard horse when out of a 
standard mare. 

7. The female progeny of a standard horse when 
out of a mare by a standard horse. 

8. The female progeny of a standard horse when 
out of a mare whose dam is a standard mare. 

9. An}^ mare that has a record of 2:35 or better 
and whose sire or dam is a standard animal. 

AVERAGE OF EXTREME SPEED. 

The average of extreme speed of trotters in this 
country, gains with every decade. Here is a state- 
ment of it made up by taking the average of the five 
fastest performers for each decade since 1820. It is 
from the pen of Leslie E. Macleod, the highest au- 
thority : 

1820 to 1830 - - - 2 : 42 

1830 to 1840 - - - - 2:351^ 

1840 to 1850 - - - 2 : 28^ 

1850 to i860 - - - -2:25 

i860 to 1870 - - - 2: 1834 

1870 to 1880 - - - - 2 : 14 

1880 to 1887 - - - 2:11^ 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

HOW TO LAY OUT A TRACK. 

Dunton's Sfirit of the Turf gives the following 
method of laying out a track: 

FOR A MILE TRACK. 

A field of forty-two acres will do. Draw a line 
through the oblong centre, 440 yards in length, set- 
ting a stake at each end. Then draw a line on either 
side of the first line, exactly parallel with and 140 
yards from it, setting stakes at either end of them. 
You will then have an oblong square 440 yards long 
and 280 yards wide. At each end of these three lines 
you will now set stakes. Now then, fasten a cord or 
wire 140 yards long to the centre stake of your paral- 
lelogram, and then describe a half circle, driving stakes 
as often as you wish to set a fence post. This half 
circle, commencing at one side and extending to the oth- 
er, will measure 440 yards. When the circle is made at 
both ends of your parallelogram, you will have two 
straight sides that measure 440 yards each, and two 
circles of exactly the same length, which, measured 
three feet from the line, will be exactly a mile. The 
turns should be thrown up an inch to the foot. 

HALF-MILE TRACK. 

Draw two parallel lines 600 feet long and 452 feet 
five inches apart. Half way between the extreme ends 
of the two parallel lines drive a stake, then loop a wire 
around the stake, long enough to reach to either side. 



90 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

Then make a true curve with the wire, putting down a 
stake as often as a fence post is needed. When this 
operation is finished at both ends of the 600 foot paral- 
lel lines, the track is laid out. The inside fence will rest 
exactly on the line drawn, but the track must measure 
a half mile three feet from the fence. The turns 
should be thrown up an inch to the foot. The stretches 
may be anywhere from 45 to 60 feet wide. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

MORALS OF THE TRACK. 

It has come to be a saying that wealth, learning 
and horses never go hand in hand. Yet there are 
some notable contradictions of this, among whom Mr. 
Bonner and W. H. H. Murray have a national fame, 
and the pencil of Rosa Bonheur was happier among 
horses than anywhere else. There is no reason in the 
world that horsemen should be slangy, vulgar or pro- 
fane. There is nothing in the business to degrade 
men, more than there is in the trade in cattle or in 
grain. No one can admire horses and bring them to 
their highest perfection by study and work, without 
being at least sober and regular in his habits, and 
humane. Many fast horses are so valuable that they 
can not be owned except by men of great wealth, and 
it is a rare thing that the owners of fine stock are any- 
thing else than refined and honorable men; as much 
so as well to do farmers and merchants. 

It is for horsemen themselves to make their profes- 
sion as reputable as any other. Tricks and dishonesty, 
and gambling and drinking, should be run off the 
track. The superiority of speed should be as 
honestly ascertained as the excellence of cabbages, or 
of oil paintings. Even the stable, where good blood 
is kept, should not only be tidy, bnt should also be 
morally clean. The American turf will reach its high- 
est respectability and also its best returns of money, 



92 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

when our horsemen require that every trainer and 
groom and rider shall have the character and habits of 
a gentleman, or lose his place. 

Nothing attracts the masses in this country more 
than the trials of speed between famous, or fine horses. 
The owners of running or trotting stock should con- 
trol the places of meeting so far as to insist that noth- 
ing derogatory to public morals shall be allowed at 
trotting tracks. It is in their power to do this. It 
ought to be done. The management should not abate 
their expenses by giving license to men to set up their 
gins to fleece their spectators. It is a misrepresentation 
of the whole enterprise to have the grounds studded 
over with petty gamblers with rings, and balls, wooden 
babies and lotteries and with saloons. It is not for 
owners of horses nor their trainers or riders that such 
miserables gather at the track; it is to deceive or rob 
the visitors. It is hoped by many that the managers 
of trotting tracks shall clean out their grounds from 
all such nuisances, and if they do not, that owners of 
fine stock will refuse to bring them out at such places. 



PART FIFTH. 

THE FOOT OF THE HORSE. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE STRUCTURE OF THE HOOF. 

The hoof of the horse is more exposed to wear and 
tear than any other portion of his body. To supply 
this loss there is in him a manufactory of horny matter, 
exactly adapted to his ordinary life. The hoofs are in 
their nature of the substance of the nails or claws of 
other creatures, and like these they grow from the 
base. The outside is of hard, dense, compact, insensi- 
ble horn, and it is of fine, thin laminae or layers. These 
laminae are of the nature of membranes, and in the inner 
part are supplied with many blood vessels and nerves, 
indicating great sensitivity. If a wrongly directed 
nail in shoeing, or a nail splintered in driving because 
made of poor iron, should penetrate this sensitive part 
of a horse's foot, it would cause intolerable pain, re- 
sulting in inflammation and possibly lock jaw, or even 
in death. It occurs some times from general ill health, or 
from local causes, that the hoof is not well enough fed. 
If the secretion of horn is interrupted, or if from local 
fever the hoof dries up or becomes brittle, it indicates 
that the gelatine is dried out and that the hoof wants 
food. Local applications, rightly chosen, will give 
nutriment and new vigor to the hoof until the system 



94 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

comes into the hoof-nourishing conditions. The dews 
are cooling and softening and carry healing to the hoof, 
while bathing in hard water makes it more brittle. 

A gentleman in Wisconsin, well known to the writer, 
owned a fine saddle horse, nearly or quite thirty years 
old, that lost the horny part of one hind foot by pulling 
out of a corduroy bridge. The horse was too much 
of a pet in the family to be killed, and for humanity's 
sake he was turned out in a damp meadow. This was 
in the spring, and before the frost came the hoof was 
reproduced, leaving neither lameness nor disfigure- 
ment. 

The Philadelphia Record, of recent date (August 
1888,) relates a fact showing the capability of the 
hoofs to take on new life. "The trotting stallion, Do- 
mestic, seven years old, with a record of 2:20^, is 
owned by Mr. John H. Goldsmith, of Washingtonville, 
N. Y. In August, 1887, in a stubbornly contested 
seven heat race, he contracted a severe cold, which 
ended in laminitis, or acute inflammation of thelaminas 
of the forward feet. Suppuration afterwards set in, 
and the veterinary surgeon who attended the horse 
decided to resort to the novel and delicate surgical 
operation of removing the hoofs with the knife. 
Usually, in cases of this kind, the old hoof is permitted 
to slough off, or to be pushed off by the new growth 
of horn, but this treatment involves danger of deform- 
ity, or permanent lameness or both. The operation 
was performed and by January last, (1888,) new and 
thin but shapely hoofs had grown over the exposed 
laminae, and the horse was able to get on his feet 
again. " 



THE STRUCTURE OF THE HOOF. 95 

Nature provides that the hoof of the horse shall often 
be wet with dews and rains, and the best pastures, in 
a dry time, lure him to the moist -lands, so that the hoof 
shall not become dry and brittle. Many horse owners 
do not favor nature in this farther than to let it rain 
sometimes. Standing on the dry floor, traveling on 
hard dry roads, washing the horse's feet in hard water, 
are all destructive to the hoof. Instead of drying up 
the hoof, better frequently fill the hollow of the foot or 
the cavity of the shoe with one part tar oil and two 
parts whale oil. This will feed the hoof and prevent 
drying. 

For diseased hoofs, corns, contraction, quarter-crack, 
brittleness, chronic laminitis, tender feet from any 
cause, use the Dempsey Hoof Pad. See advertise- 
ment in this book. It restores soundness to tender 
feet, and it admits of any necessary medication while 
it is worn. It prevents slipping, and adds to the elas- 
ticity of the frog. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

TO SHOE, OR NOT TO SHOE. 

The belief that every horse that travels, or that 
works on a farm, must have pieces of iron nailed to 
his feet, puts the horse and his owner at the mercy of 
the shoe-smith. This man is not often a student of 
horse anatomy. There is no class of workmen so fond 
of being thought original as the horse shoer. His 
theory of shoeing is generally his own. He does not 
verify it by actual dissections, nor does he study careful- 
ly the nature of the hoof before he adopts his methods. 
The many serious mistakes made in shoeing horses 
naturally awakens the inquir}^ as to the actual value of 
the horseshoe. The use of the horseshoe is modern. 
Bucephalus, the charger of Alexander the Great, never 
was shod. The later Greeks never used upon their 
horses any kind of shoes. Great generals, like Alex- 
ander, Hannibal and others, often had great armies 
delayed, and sometimes defeated, by the wearing out 
of the cavalry in hilly and rocky countries. For a 
short campaign, or for short journeys, shoes are not 
important. The farm horse rarely fails in his feet for 
want of shoes. The horses of our North American 
Indians are never shod, and their feet never fail them 
in escaping from our well shod cavalry. Dr. Rees's 
Encyclopedia states that the Romans, much as the 
people of Japan do now, sometimes placed on the 
feet of their horses what we would call boots, made of 



TO SHOE, OR NOT TO SHOE. 97 

sedges twisted together, or leather, strengthened with 
plates of iron, but without any nails being driven into 
the feet. Nero used these in gorgeous style, bespang- 
ling the horse's boots with silver and gold. The first 
horseshoe now known to have been used was worn 
by the horse of Childeric I. (481,) which shoe is yet 
in existence, and much resembles that of modern make. 
It is not a hundred years since draft horses wore shoes 
weighing five pounds each. " The Coming Man " 
will stand between the man who never shoes, and the 
man whose horse's feet are injured by shoeing. He 
will not shoe all his horses, but only those that need 
it, and them only while they need it. In any event he 
will have the sole, bars, frog and heels asuntrimmed as 
he does his own thumbs and heels. 

An interview with Hon. Lewis Steward, of Piano, 
Illinois, during the preparation of these pages, is too 
important to remain unnoticed here. Mr. Steward 
said that some years ago his attention had been called 
to the injurious effect of the shoeing of horses, and he 
had long since ceased to have his horses shod. He 
remembered that, fifty years ago, one John Evans lived 
near the present site of Piano, and was the owner of 
a little sorrel mare that probably never was touched by 
a shoe in her life. Evans would leap on the back of 
this unshod mare and, across acres of ice and crusted 
snow, would run down and capture prairie wolves in 
a fair race for speed. Mr. Steward had, a few years 
ago, a fine horse whose feet became diseased, and the 
paring and shoeing, and changing of smiths, only made 
them worse. Suppuration set in and he resolved to 
take off the shoes and to pave the horse's stall with 



98 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

» 

cobble stones. This was done and the feet were soon 
well and have been sound and unshod ever since. 
Another of his stallions, now twenty-three years old, 
has been happy in his bare feet on the cobble stones 
for several years. The use of the cobble stones was 
to give exercise to every part of the hoof so that a 
healthly circulation could be kept up in the elastic 
part of the foot. 

On driving along the streets after his two galloping 
ponies, that never in their lives wore blinds or check 
reins or shoes, Mr. Steward drew up before a two 
horse team with a load of wood, weighing, probably, 
three thousand pounds, drawn by two heavy, broad, 
strong mares. This was one of his teams. Their 
feet were round, regular and unbroken, and had not 
worn shoes for years. They were headed for a steep 
hill which he said they could go down without locking 
the wheels, or up without diffculty, and without shoes, 
at any season, except about once a year for two or 
three days at a time. None of his one hundred and 
fifty or more of horses were ever kept in the stable, in 
the winter, for want of shoes, and none stopped from 
going up hill or down for want of being shod, or ever 
became lame from worn or injured feet. 

On being asked if he would never shoe a horse, he 
said, he would shoe only for an emergency; if he had 
to drive over fields of ice he would have his horses 
shod, but as soon as the ice was gone he would have 
the shoes taken off. 

It is evident from Mr. Steward's views and habits 
that thoughtful men begin to doubt the wisdom of 
keeping horses shod all the time, or even shoeing 



TO SHOE, OR NOT TO SHOE. 99 

horses at all, for ordinary work. It is seriously doubted 
by many whether the shoeing process preserves in 
soundness as many feet as it ruins. William of Nor- 
mandy allowed a native British lord to retain his estate 
for the service of shoeing his horses, but the bold and 
wiley Norman made a condition that when a palfrey 
was injured by the shoeing, a sound one should be 
furnished instead. That would be a wise and whole- 
some arrangement to make in these days. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

SHOEING THE HORSE. 

Nature provides for the continual growth of the 
hoof of the horse and also by a natural sloughing off, 
for the progressive removal of the part made useless 
by growth. The natural process leaves very little to 
be removed by the blacksmith, certainly nothing but 
the natural growth under the shoe. When he does 
cut he should leave the foot in its natural shape and 
pare away only enough to fit the shoe evenly on the 
hard and horny wall of the hoof. Never cut the foot 
to fit the shoe. For a man this would be barbarous; 
it is about the same for a horse. Make the shoe so as 
to fit the foot. 

The portion of the hoof between the bar and the 
quarter is the breeding ground of corns. On that part 
no pressure should ever come. The hardened, horny 
substance, around the outside of the hoof, which is 
about half an inch thick, should rest evenly on the shoe, 
and that part only. Inside of that there is a softer, 
cushion-like substance, never to be cut nor even 
touched, except to be washed. If let alone it will suffi- 
ciently shed its superabundant growth. The frog cuts 
like cheese and it is so easy and nice to cut at it, that 
the man with a sharp knife cuts away, knowing that 
he will never wear the shoe himself nor drive the 
horse. A knife should never touch the foot of a horse, 
— leave the sole or frog as nature made it. You might 



SHOEING THE HORSE. IOI 

better level your own sole with a knife than the horse's. 
All the part of the hoof inside the horny rim should be 
as free from cutting as from pressure. Making a shoe 
hot and fitting it by burning is horrible. Do not per- 
mit it. It is followed by an unhealthy secretion of 
horn, the animal will be less sure footed, and will be 
liable to become lame. 

The kind of shoe to be preferred depends on the 
season of the year. If you want more iron in the shoe 
do not make the shoe thicker but broader. This will 
keep the foot nearer the ground and so give more 
efficiency to the frog, that natural cushion in the mid- 
dle of the foot. After the shoe is put on, the frog 
should be about as near the ground as it was before ; 
this will break the concussion of the step on hard or 
rocky roads. The main force of the horse's leg is 
thrown on the toe at every rapid step. The toe then 
should have the chief protection, and the elasticity of 
the heel should be as little disturbed as possible. 

These conditions are finely met by the Dempsey 
Shoe Pad which is fastened on the horse's foot by 
metallic tips, and that covers the frog and heel with 
gutta percha, an elastic coating which at the same 
time protects the heel from cutting and wearing, and 
also adds to its elasticity. See a descriptive advertise- 
ment of this invention at the end of the book. 

The fancy to have the heels of the shoe project far 
behind the horse's foot is foolish and injurious. On 
the forward shoes an eighth of an inch is the farthest 
back they should go. On the outside of the hind shoe, 
the outside calk, if calks are used, may be three- 
fourths of an inch back of the heel. The shoe should 



102 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

follow the circle of the curve of the foot. The smith 
should show his skill in conforming the shoe to the 
foot and not in cutting down the foot to the shape of 
the shoe. This should be strictly followed except at 
the hind heels where the shoe should be a little wider, 
extending towards the outside. 

Do not use a rasp on the outside of the hoof, unless 
it be a very little smoothing of the hoof just where it 
touches the shoe. To scrape your own nails with a 
rasp or sharp knife would soon ruin them. 

Let the nail holes crowd towards the toe rather 
than towards the heel. Then the nails will not pierce 
the quick, laming the horse and injuring the foot. Our 
best smiths prefer the hot-forged nails, and use the 
fewest number that will securely hold the shoe in 
place. 

The nails should fill the holes, and the heads should 
fill the crease, projecting as little as possible. Nails 
made by rolling cold iron become laminated in the 
process, the danger of which is not discovered by ex- 
amining the nail before using it. 

The cold-forged nail is liable, in driving, to spread 
into splinters in the hoof, producing lameness, disease 
and even death. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE HORSE'S AGE BY HIS TEETH. 

The following rules for telling the age of a horse 
by his teeth are generally reliable, though not infalli- 
ble, as exceptions will sometimes occur with every 
rule. Up to eight years the age is determined from 
the teeth of the lower jaw. 

Eight to fourteen days after birth, the first middle 
nippers- of the set of milk teeth are cut ; four to six 
weeks afterwards the next pair to them ; after six or 
eight months the next pair, or cutters. 

All these milk teeth have on their front surface 
grooves or furrows, which disappear from the middle 
nippers at the end of one year ; from the next pair in 
two years, and from the incisors in three years. 

At the age of two years the middle nippers are shed, 
and in their places appear two permanent teeth with 
deep black cavities, and full, sharp edges. At the age 
of three, the next pair are exchanged for new ones ; 
at four years the incisors fall out, and are replaced by 
new ones. At five } r ears old the horse has his perma- 
nent set of teeth. 

As the horse increases in age the teeth grow longer, 
but at the same time are worn away by use about 
one-twelfth of an inch each year, so that the black 
cavities in the middle nippers disappear in the sixth 
year; those of the next pair in the seventh year; and 
those of the incisors in the eighth year. The outer 



104 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

corner teeth of the upper and lower jaw just meet at 
the age of eight years. 

At nine years old the cups disappear from the two 
middle nippers above, and each of the two upper 
corner teeth has a little sharp protrusion at the outer 
corners. 

At ten the cups disappear from the next two upper 
teeth. 

At eleven the cups disappear from the upper corner 
teeth, and are only indicated by little brown spots. 

From the twelfth to the sixteenth year the oval 
form becomes broader, and grows more and more 
triangular, and with the twentieth year the teeth lose 
all regularity. After this age there is nothing in the 
teeth that will indicate the age of the horse, or justify 
the most experienced examiner in giving an opinion. 

The tusks are cut between the third and fourth 
year; their points become more and more rounded un- 
til the ninth year, when they lose all regularity of 
shape. Mares frequently have no tusks. 



PART SIXTH. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

NUTWOOD. 

On the adjoining page will be found a good likeness 
of the celebrated horse, Nutwood, of a still rising 
fame. The gentlemanly owners are Messrs. H. L. and 
L. D. Stout, of the Highland Stock Farm, Dubuque, 
Iowa. He is of a chestnut color, 15:3 hands high; 
weight 1,160 lbs., foaled May 1, 1870. 

As a sketch of this tine horse would certainly be 
interesting to horsemen everywhere, a few points of 
his character are given here by permission of his own- 
ers. Mr. J. H. Wallace, who is the highest authority, 
says in Wallace's Monthly : " Nutwood when com- 
pared with others, point by point, is certainty the 
equal, if not the superior, of an}^ trotting sire in the 
world." 

The Kentucky Stock farm says : " In conformation 
and disposition Nutwood is simply perfection. " 
As there are many things in this horse that are unsur- 
passed, it is a matter of public interest to give some of 
his characteristics. He trots in 2:18^, and he has 
added six this year to the number of his progeny in 
the 2:30 list, two of which have beaten 2:20, making 
in all twenty-two in the 2 130 list, five of them better 
than 2:20, and one with a record of 2:163^, and a 



106 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

granddaughter of his has a record of 2:19^. His 
dam, Miss Russell, dam of Maud S. 2:08^, ranks all 
the great brood mares as a producer of extreme speed. 
It is believed that no sire has surpassed him, if any 
ever equalled him, in respect to the impressiveness 
with which he stamps upon his progeny his own 
characteristics which strongly mark his family. 

Except to state bare recorded facts of what Nut- 
wood is, little need be said. Individually he is excel- 
lent, of superior conformation, of good size, with re- 
markable substance combined with finish and quality. 
He has the best of legs, sound and clean, and good 
feet. He has an even, gentle temper, and is kind and 
intelligent in disposition. That he reproduces these 
characteristics, as well as great natural speed, in his off- 
spring, is best known to those most closely acquainted 
with him and them. The lines that all intelligent 
breeders recognize as the best from Hambletonian, 
the greatest progenitor, are those through George 
Wilkes and Alexander's Abdal>ah. They are the lines 
that produce greatness not only in one generation, but 
through successive generations, and stand above all 
others. Nutwood is, by the records, the best living 
representative of the Alexander's Abdallah line. 

The best test of the value of blood is the price it 
brings. Before the dispersal sale at Glenview, fifty- 
one colts and fillies by Nutwood, two years old and 
under, were sold by private sale, and by auction, at an 
average of $1,307.50, and those sold for twelve 
months previous to that sale averaged $1,728.26 each 
in cash. At the great sale itself, sixty-eight head, of 
Nutwood's produce, sold under the hammer for an 



IOS THE HORSE TRAINER. 

average of $1,570. Twenty-seven of these were 
weanlings and averaged $1,350 each, and the year- 
lings averaged $2,281. The highest price ever paid 
for a weanling was the $4,000 paid for the daughter 
of Nutwood and Mattie Graham. At Glenview, at 
the auction, Cherry wood, weanling, by Nutwood, sold 
for $3,025, and at auction, another weanling, Delphos, 
by Nutwood, was sold for $3,750. 
These figures need no comment. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A HORSE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. 

Was there ever a perfect horse? There was a per- 
fect man once whose name was Job. There was one 
animal of the horse kind, absolutely perfect in mind, 
and body, and in movement; at least so a graphic 
writer makes it in the Atlantic Monthly for April 
1869. It is from the facile pen of W. H. H 
Murray, — Adirondack Murray. It gives the experience 
of an officer of our army, in the battle of Malvern 
Hill, who lay in a clump of trees, wounded, during 
most of the havoc of that bloody day. The wounded 
officer tells the story: 

" I saw, from where I lay, a riderless horse break out 
of the confused and flying mass, and, with mane and 
tail erect and spreading nostril, come dashing obliquely 
down the slope. Over fallen steeds and heaps of the 
dead she leaped with a motion as airy as that of the 
flying fox, when, fresh and unjaded, he leads away 
from the hounds. So this riderless mare came vault- 
ing along, with action so free and motion so graceful, 
amid that storm of bullets, that whirlwind of fire and 
lead. So she came careering toward me as only a 
riderless horse might come. Her head flung widely 
from side to side, her nostrils widely spread, her flank 
and shoulders flecked with foam, her eye dilating. 
I forgot my wound and the wild roar of battle, and lift- 



IIO THE HORSE TRAINER. 

ing myself to a sitting posture, I gave her a ringing 
cheer. 

" No sooner had my voice sounded than she flung 
her head with a proud upward movement into the air, 
swerved sharply to the left, neighed as she might to 
her master from her stall, and came trotting directly 
up to where I lay, and pausing, looked down upon me 
as if in compassion. I spoke again and held out my 
hand caressingly. She pricked her ears, took a step 
forward and lowered her nose until it came in contact 
with my palm, as if to court and to appreciate human 
tenderness. 

" In weight she might have turned, when well con- 
ditioned, nine hundred and fifty pounds. In color she 
was a dark chestnut, with a velvety depth and soft 
look about the hair indescribably rich and elegant. 
Many a time have I heard ladies dispute the shade 
and the hue of her plush-like coat as they ran their 
white, jewelled fingers through her silken hair. Her 
body was round in the barrel, and perfectly symmet- 
rical. She was wide in the haunches, without projec- 
tion of the hip-bones, upon which the shorter ribs 
seemed to lap. High in the withers as she was, the 
line of her back and neck perfectly curved, while her 
deep, oblique shoulders and long thick forearm, ridgy 
with swelling sinews, suggested the perfection of 
stride and power. Her knees across the pan were 
wide, the cannon-bone below them short and thin; 
the pasterna long and sloping; her hoofs round, dark, 
shiny and well set on. Her mane was a shade darker 
than her coat,' fine and thin, her ears sharply pointed, 
delicately curved, nearly black around the borders, 



A HORSE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. Ill 

and as tremulous as the leaves of an aspen. Her neck 
rose from the withers to the head in perfect curvature, 
hard, devoid of fat, and well cut under the chops. Her 
nostrils were full, very full, and thin almost as parch- 
ment. The eyes from which tears might fall, or fire 
flash, were well brought out, soft as a gazelle's, al- 
most human in intelligence, while over the small bony 
head, over neck and shoulders, yea, over the whole 
body and clean down to the hoofs, the veins stood out 
as if the skin were but tissue paper, against which the 
warm blood pressed, and which it might at any 
moment burst asunder. ' A perfect animal ' I said to 
myself, as I lay looking over her, — an animal which 
might have been born from the wind and the sunshine, 
so swift and so cheerful she seemed — an animal which 
a man would present as his choicest gift to the woman 
he loved, and yet one which that woman, wife, or lady- 
love, would give him to ride when honor and life de- 
pended on bottom and speed" 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE MULE. 

The best mules are produced from the male of the 
ass kind and the female of the horse kind, taking from 
the former a general resemblance in form and patience 
and surefootedness; and from the latter, vigor, strength 
and courage. He is more easily kept than a horse; 
perhaps, because one line of his ancestry has for ages 
browsed on sterile mountains or searched over sandy 
deserts for his scanty food. We also attribute his 
sureness of foot and his facility in climbing or descend- 
ing mountains to the character of the ancestral ass 
that climbs over precipices, as surefooted as the 
mountain goat, and that picks his meager food from 
the most frightful declivities. 

The mule is of little use till he is four years old; his 
usefulness begins later than that of the horse, but it 
lasts longer, as he will endure, if treated reasonably 
well, twenty, thirty or even forty years. His size 
varies in different countries. In regions where both 
his ancestors are small in stature he is often no larger 
than a Newfoundland dog; but where the conditions 
of best size are met, he reaches fifteen or sixteen 
hands in height, or even more. 

The first jacks for breeding purposes were intro- 
duced into the United States by George Washington, 
on his farm, in the fine climate of Virginia; the very 
large animals, presented him by the monarchs of 



; ..' : v^\.^:'"'- *v 



''.V ' 

, , ] V 




114 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

Europe, produced very large and strong mules, of 
which the general was very proud. 

The mule has not always been excluded from hon- 
orable place. Anciently kings and princes rode upon 
mules and to this day in Spain mules draw the royal 
carriage, and a fine mule there costs more than a fine 
horse. The best mules in Europe are found in Spain, 
Italy and Malta. In America the best are produced 
in Kentucky and Missouri, where the mule-producing 
farms find profit in employing mares that are good, 
both in blood and for size, in producing mules. 

In this country the indications are that the use of 
the mule will become more common, and that as his 
price advances the profit in his rearing will increase. 
The expense of raising mules is far less than that of 
raising colts. The skin is harder than that of the 
horse, and hence he will better resist the effects of sun, 
or rain, or cold. He is easily fed; he can carry or 
draw, can climb or descend mountains safely; he is free 
from the common equine diseases. He is especially 
valuable for military use, being preferred for all the 
uses of the army except for the cavalry. In our war 
in the south the horses gradually left the transporta- 
tion service, the ambulances and the hospital trains, ' 
and were replaced by mules. In the war in Aby- 
sinia the English found a fatal malaria that cut down 
their horses by the thousands but which did not harm 
their mules. 

The carrying power of the mule exceeds that of 
the horse. The estimate of his burden for a day's 
journey is 30 per cent, of his own weight, but in the 
copper mines of the Andes he has oftener to carry 40 



THE MULE. 115 

per cent, of his weight climbing around precipices 
within a foot's distance from the death line. 

For breeding purposes the dam should be selected 
with the greatest care. She should have small head, 
round body, short back, wide chest, large thighs and 
arms, long neck, wide and round roofs and should be, 
at least fourteen, or better fifteen hands or more. 
The mule inherits shape and peculiarities of sire, and 
size from the mare, but very rarely her bad shape or 
unsoundness. Mares that are unsound, or defective 
in shape so as to be unfit for horse breeding may pro- 
duce good mules. 

In general the methods by which a horse is con- 
trolled and trained apply equally to his half brother, 
the mule. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 

So many questions have come in on various sub- 
jects, and so many of them are of general interest, 
that some of them are grouped here and brief answers 
given : 

i. THE BEST HALTER. 

Which is the best kind of halter for general use? 
Answer : — The halter known as the five-ring hal- 
ter is the best. 

2. THE FASTEST TIME ON RECORD. 
What is the fastest time made by American trotters? 
Answer: — Johnston, pacer, 2:06%, Maud S., trot- 
ter, 2:08^, Jay- Eye-See, trotter, 2:10. 

3. THE HIGHEST PRICE FOR A HORSE. 

What is the highest price paid for a trotter in 
America? 

Answer: — Bell Boy, a trotting stallion, brought at 
auction $50,000. 

4. TO PREVENT CROWDING IN THE STALL. 

How will you prevent a colt from crowding against 
you in the stall ? 

Answer: — Take a plank about 12 feet long, 12 
inches wide and 2 inches thick, and place one end on 
the manger and the other on the floor beside the colt. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Il7 

As you enter the stall push it over gradually towards 
him, and go in, having the plank between you and 
him. You will keep him in close quarters in this way, 
and he will soon forget his trick of crowding. 

5. THE RIGHT WAY OF THE TRACK. 

Should the horse in practicing be driven the direc- 
tion in which he is to trot, or the opposite? 

Answer:- — The trotter should always be trained 
going in the direction in which he is to make the full 
trial of his speed. If this is not done he is not sure to 
do his best in the race. Somehow the horse becomes 
confused, or he forms a habit of going to the right or 
to the left, and the reverse is awkward to him, much 
as it is to a man as to whether he uses his right or 
left hand in handling an axe or a hoe. Whichever a 
man or horse gets used to he cannot reverse it and do 
his best. The trainer will find this out sometime and 
will profit by it. 

6. MESSENGER BLOOD. 

Have we now living any horses that are sons of 
Imported Messenger, as an owner of a fine horse that 
I know of, says his is? Another has a colt that he says 
is from a Messenger mare. Can that be so? 

Answer :— Imported Messenger died in 1808, so 
that his youngest son would now be about eighty 
years old. A mare descended in a recorded line from 
the same tree would be very respectable but would 
probably not be over one ten-thousandth part of orig- 
inal Messenger blood. It sounds well where there is 
no one to set it right, to say, " This horse is a Mes- 



Il8 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

senger. " The claim is very thin and will not answer 
instead of form or speed. 

7. THE BEST BIT TO USE. 

What kind of a bit do you use? 

Answer: — I use different kinds of bits for different 
purposes, and for different horses. One must first 
learn the nature of the horse. For a fretful horse a 
bar bit is best. For general purposes I use a jointed 
bit. A curb bit is only fit to use on a horse under 
the saddle. If a horse is inclined to run away 
use a Rockwell bit. The mouth is the tenderest part 
of the horse on which force can be expended for con- 
trolling him. Harshness in the use of the bit is likely 
to produce what it is designed to remedy, and make a 
horse do, for pain and rage, the more wrong. Jerk- 
ing at the tender mouth of a horse is a great cruelty. 

8. CLIPPING HORSES. 

Would you advise clipping horses? 

Answer: — No, never. It is far from ornamental 
to the horse — it cannot be other than detrimental to 
health. It is possible, with great care as to clothing 
and unchanging warmth of stable, that the fatal effects 
of clipping may be postponed, but they are sure to 
come. Even the clipping of the heels and legs of 
horses is a frequent cause of disease. To take off all 
his coat adds nothing to the comfort of the horse nor 
as most people believe, to his good looks, and certainly 
it contributes nothing to his health or strength. It in- 
terrupts the healthy action of the skin, and it is almost 
certain to leave disease, if not in the skin, then in some 
other over-burdened organs of the animal. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. II9 

9. THE OPEN BRIDLE. 

Would you drive with an open bridle from the be- 
ginning, or would you adopt it after the colt is trained? 

Answer: — No, I would not use an open bridle at 
any time. I prefer an easy fitting, blind bridle of soft 
leather, not too short in the head stall. Your horse 
has no business with any part of the world except 
what is straight before him. Take off the blinders 
and then if you touch the whip he will see the motion 
and he will start much worse than from a stroke of it. 
Then he will soon slacken his gait, become slattern 
and irregular in his motion, and start again in sudden 
surprise when the whip is touched. If you want a 
steady going spirited driver, safe from starts and frights 
of every kind, you will discard the open bridle from 
the first. 

10. THE BLOOD OF THE WILD HORSE. 

If there are herds of wild horses never yet domesti- 
cated, would it not infuse new and better blood into 
our present stock to breed with them? 

Answer: — There is good reason to believe that all 
the horses now running wild are fugitives from the 
service of man, and their ancestors once belonged to 
private owners. The animals that serve man, as the 
horse, dog, sheep and others, do not improve so rap- 
idly in the wild state as in the domesticated. What 
should we gain by breeding with a mustang, or the 
ewe-necked weakling of the pampas, or the unshapely 
wild horse of southern Russia? To breed from these 
would turn the horse-clock back more than a hundred 
years. Speed and strength do not degenerate with 



120 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

domestication ; on the contrary, they increase, for the 
tame horse can carry a man and overtake a wild one. 

ii. THE USE OF THE WHIP. 

Would you use the whip freely in breaking or driv- 
ing? 

Answer: — The whip is useful in training horses 
just as saw dust is useful in feeding cattle — the less 
sawdust the better. So the less whip the better. The 
whip breeds stubbornness and balkiness. It is often 
the cause of heaviness and awkwardness of gait. 
There is no animal that so readily gives his confidence 
and affection to his owner as does a horse. Most 
horses can be made gentle by kindness. It is at anv 
rate the best way to use the whip just as little as pos- 
sible. If the horse becomes used to obey the voice he 
will be quieted at once when otherwise he would be 
frightened, and he will- struggle on under a load that 
the whip would make him utterly refuse to carry. The 
less of the whip, the more of a horse. Cruel welts are 
no sign of horsemanship, but prove the want of it. 

12. HOW TO DRIVE A HORSE UP TO THE CARS. 

How can you make a horse, old or young, go 
quietly up to the cars? 

Answer: — A horse that is afraid of the train should 
be driven where he can see it. This should be done 
often, each time going a little nearer. The reason he 
is afraid is that he does not understand what it is. By 
a gradual approach he will come to regard it as a 
passing wagon. Let him go towards it slowly, and 
to see it well. Use the same rule as to fright about 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 121 

anything else. After a while you can take him quite 
up to the train. To get him accustomed to the 
whistle of the locomotive is a different thing and will 
take quite as long to free him from fear of it as from 
the fear of anything else, perhaps longer, for he cannot 
see or smell an alarming sound. The secret of it is to 
get him accustomed to it gradually. All this can be 
done as a part of the training of a colt as well as not. 
It adds to the value of a horse to have him not afraid 
of the train, from ten dollars to fifty according to the 
work for which he is desired. 

13. REPRODUCTION OF QUALITIES. 

Can we with certainty reproduce the qualities of 
the stallion? 

Answer: — -Not always, there are too many factors 
here to make the result certain. It sometimes seems 
that ten different colts, of the same sire and mare, will 
be as unlike, mentally and physically, as any ten boys 
who are full brothers. There are pre-natal causes 
that affect an animal's size, color or shape. But there 
is in this respect a great difference in sires. There 
are some that impress their likeness very lightly on 
their progeny, others again very powerfully. The 
same is true of mares. One who breeds for rare 
qualities of speed or form should select only from the 
breeding stock that has demonstrated its power to re- 
produce its characteristics in the offspring. Nutwood, 
of which a short sketch is given in chapter xxxiii, 
is one of the best representatives of the class whose 
progeny are generally true to the ancestral stock in 
color, size, form and speed. In this quality there are 



I 2 Is THE HORSE TRAINER. 

great differences among good strains, and good 
horses. The careful breeder must gather facts for 
himself on this point. 

14. DO HORSES REASON ? 

Are not animals guided by reason, in a feebler de- 
gree than in man, but really by reason ? 

Answer: — -That is a question for a philosopher 
rather than for a horse trainer. But here is an answer: 
By common consent we call the mental endowment of 
animals by the name of instinct, though some animals 
really seem to indicate actual reason. An elephant, 
to which a sixpence had been given, dropped it so 
near the wall that he could not reach it. He put his 
trunk against the wall and blew so hard as to throw 
the money nearer to him, when he picked it up. 

The South American horse, when sold and carried 
across the river where it is too wide to swim back has 
been known to travel up stream perhaps a hundred 
miles to find a ford, where he crosses and comes 
back to his old home. 

Since this book was in manuscript, (August 1888,) 
a large farm dog was given by one farmer to another 
in New Jersey. The dog was taken by rail 140 miles, 
and in six days after walked into his former master's 
house in a starved and worn condition. He had made 
twenty miles a day, and, if he went by the wagon 
road probably thirty miles a day. After all, while the 
exploits of an animal often surprise us, it is sagacity, 
and not reason. 



PART SEVENTH. 

DISEASES OF THE HORSE AND REMEDIES. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

THE HEALTH OF THE HORSE. 

Buffon, the naturalist, writing a little over a hun- 
dred years ago, laments,that no educated man takes 
care of the health of horses. Better times for horse 
flesh are upon us when we have schools and hospitals 
for instruction as to equine diseases. The result is al- 
ready that the life and usefulness of the horse are 
much prolonged. The horse's natural age is about 
thirty years and he ought to be in his prime at twelve. 

Good food and shelter come first as the means of 
preventing disease. The unsheltered and half-fed 
horses of Iceland and Northern Russia are always 
under size. It was the great strength of the well-fed 
Norman horses against the ponies of the Britains that 
decided the battle of Hastings in 1066, and let in the 
Normans. The colt that is under-fed and half-starved 
for his first three years is never half a horse after- 
wards. If a horse is given free range he will select 
only healthful food, and he will sagaciously select 
remedies for his disorders, if the cure is within his 
reach. On the contrary an ass will eat everything, so 
that there has grown up a sa}dng, "The best physi- 
cian is a horse and the best apothecaryian an ass. " If 



124 THE H ORSE TRAINER. 

you will put rock salt and a rock of chalk in his 
manger, he will relish his food every day with salt as 
you do yourself, and he will take of the chalk when 
he has a sour stomach. What would your boarder 
think of you if you were to give him salt and pepper 
and sugar only on Sunday mornings, and then mix up 
in his pancakes enough to last him a week as you do 
for your horse? Infrequent and irregular feed and 
water will make him gluttonous. The camel, that 
travels for days without water, drinks a barrel when 
he gets it. 

The stable should be airy, with windows not always 
open nor always shut, nor should the cold wind blow 
on his face or breast. He should not be kept in twi- 
light, on a filthy floor, in a damp den, for sixteen hours 
in twenty-four, where foul air invades the lungs, and 
the odor of ammonia inflames the eyes. The air 
should be dry and sweet and his bed clean. The floor 
ought to be level, with perfect draining. The stall 
should be of the box pattern and not a narrow dun- 
geon. Each horse should have a manger concealed 
from the eyes and the teeth of the next neighbor so 
that he can eat without haste or annoyance. A horse 
that is much out doors is always in motion and the 
elasticity of the sole and frog will keep the foot healthy. 
The horse tied in the stall where he can hardly move 
his feet will soon have them hard, inflamed and brittle, 
his legs will be benumbed and stiff, and he will prob- 
ably be treated for rheumatism or springhalt, and die 
of old age at eleven. If he had a box stall in a lighted, 
clean, ventilated stable with regular food, his years of 
labor would have been double. 



THE HEALTH OF THE HORSE. 1.2 5 

Prevention is better than cure. But accidents will 
happen. Changes of food and water, over-exertion 
and exposure of a creature that has no voice to com- 
plain, will often make a sound horse sick. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
FAVORITE PRESCRIPTIONS. 

The following prescriptions have been prepared 
with the greatest care by a very skillful and practical 
student of the diseases of the horses and their reme- 
dies. They can be depended on as being the methods 
of treatment pursued in an extensive and very success- 
ful practice for the last twenty years. 

No. i. — Alterative and Tonic 

Fluid Extract Taraxacum - - 2 ounces 

" " Sanguinaria - - 2 

" " Hydrastis 2 

" " UvaUrsi - 4 

" - ". Nux Vomica - - 1 

Tinct. Ferri - - 3 

Alcohol 4 

Aqua - - - 4 

Dose, y 2 ounce 3 times per day. 

No. 2 — Fever Drops. 

F. E. Aconite, Belladona, Veratrum Viridi, of each 
one ounce. Mix. 

Dose, from 10 to 20 drops in a little water every 30 
minutes until pulse is reduced to 48 per minute, then 
15 drops every six hours. 

No. 3. — Cooling Lotion, For External Inflammation. 
Muriate Ammonia - - - 6 ounces 

Acetas Plumbi - - - - 2 " 



FAVORITE PRESCRIPTIONS. 127 

Acetic Acid - - • - 4 ounces 

Tinct. Arnica - - - 8 " 

Mix. Bathe the affected part thoroughly. 

No. 4. — Ring Bones, Spavins, Curbs, Splints. 

F. F. F. Ammonia, Spts. Terebinth, Soft Soap, equal 
parts. 

Apply twice per day, for three days, then once per 
day for six days, then stop until scab is shed and if not 
well, repeat. 

No. 5. — Mild Blister. 

Biniodide Mercury - 1 Drachm 

Lard - - - 1 Ounce 

Apply once a. day for three days, then rest 
three days and repeat. Good for splints, curbs or 
callouses. 

After a blister is started do not inflame it with 
another blister on top of it or you will have trouble. 

No. 6. — Liniment for Soreness in Muscles and Cords. 

Hydrate of Chloral - y 2 Ounce 

Tinct. Camphor - - y 2 

Oil Cedar - 2 

Oil Hemlock 2 

Spts. Nitre - - 4 

Alcohol - - - - - 8 . 

No. 7. — Harness and Saddle Galls. 
Tinct. Camphor - - 3 Ounces 

Hamamelis - - - 4 " 

Tannic Acid - - - y 2 . " 

Apply three times per day. 



128 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

No. 8. — Colic, Flatulent or Wind Colic. 

Fluid Extract Aconite - - - i Ounce 

" " Belladona - i " 

" " Colocynth - - - I " 

Mix. Dose : One teaspoonful in two ounces of water. 
Walk slowly to prevent rolling. 

Symptoms : Pain Intermittent. Pulse normal, ex- 
tremities natural temperature. 

No. 9. — Bilious Colic, Pain Constant, Pulse Rapid, 
Breathing Distressed, Legs and Ears Cold. 

Fluid Extract Aconite - 1 Ounce 

" " Belladona - - 1 " 

Nux Vomica - - - % " 

Hyposulphite Soda - - 4 " 

Dissolve soda in warm water, then add other in- 
gredients. Dose: one teaspoonful every hour for 6 
hours, then once in two or three hours. 

No. 10. — Thrush in Feet. 

Tinct. Iodine - - 1 Ounce 

Clean out foot well, then touch every part of dis- 
eased portion of hoof with the above, once a day for 
3 or 4 days. Another: Sprinkle with Calomel once 
per day for 3 days. 

No. n. — Hoof Ointment. 

Take y 2 lb. Lard and 4 ounces Rosin, heat them 
over a slow fire until melted, take the pot off the fire, 
add one ounce pulverized verdigris. Stir well to pre- 
vent running over. When partly cool add 2 ounces 
Turpentine. Apply twice per week. 



FAVORITE PRESCRIPTIONS. I2Q. 

No. 12. — Fits or Staggers. 

Give 2 ounces of Tinct. Assafoetida every morning 
for ten days. This is said to be a sure cure. 

No. 13. — Stoppage of Urine. 
Give one ounce Sweet Spirits of Nitre, repeat in y 2 
hour if not better, or give 5 drops Tinct. Cantharides 
in a little water every half hour, until better. 

No. 14. — Heave Powder. 
Spanish Brown - - - y 2 lb. 

Ginger - - - - " " 

Dose : one spoonful twice per day. 

No. 15. — General Liniment. 
Take ]/ 2 pint Linseed oil, one half pint Turpentine, 
4 ounces Oil Origanum. Shake well and it is fit for 
use. This is good for all sprains. 

No. 16. — To Stop Bleeding. 
If you can get hold of the artery or vein, tie it up. If 
not, take 10 grains Nitrate of Silver and 4 ounces of 
water. Apply to the wound and it will stop bleeding. 

No. 17. — Condition Powders. 

Fenugreek - - - 1 Ounce 

Cream of Tartar - 1 

Gentain - - - - 1 

Sulphur - - - 1 

Saltpetre - - - - 1 

Rosin - - - - - 1 

Black Antimony - - 1 

Ginger - - - - 1 

Cayenne Pepper - - 1 
Dose : one table spoonful once per day. 



I30 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

No. 18 — For Horses Subject to Colic. 

Tinct. Hydrastis Canadenses - 2 Ounces. 

Dose : 30 drops, twice per day. 

No. 19. — Sweeney Liniment. 

Alcohol and Spts. Turpentine of each 4 oz. Tinct. 
Camphor, Tinct. Cantharides, Tinct. Capsicum each ^ 
oz., and oil of Spike 3 oz. 

Bathe the liniment in with hot Iron. 

No. 20. — For Wounds. 
Spts. Turpentine - - 4 Ounces 

Alcohol - - - - 8 " 

Tinct. Cayenne Pepper - 1 " 

Shake well and apply. 

No. 21. — For Wind Galls and Soft Lumps. 

Oil Origanum 4 Ounces 

" Hemlock - 1 

" Lavender 1 

" Wormwood - - - -2 

" Spike 1 

Sweet Oil - 8 
Apply morning and evening. Rub well. 

No. 22. — For The Eye, to Remove Scum. 



Calomel - 


3 Scruples 


Olive Oil - 


1 Ounce 


Belladonna - 


3 Scruples 


Apply with feather twice per day. 




No. 23. — Cleansing Powder. 




Ginger - ■ 


2 Ounces 


Fenugreek - 


4 " 



FAVORITE PRESCRIPTIONS. 131 

Black Antimony ' - - i Ounce 

Rhubarb - - - 2 " 

Grind all fine and mix. 

Dose : large spoonful twice per day. 

No 24. — To Cure the Mange on a Horse. 

Wash him thoroughly with soap and water to re- 
move all scabs and scurf; when dry rub this mixture 
well in : Kerosene and cotton-seed oil in equal parts. 
Repeat the rubbing after two days. Rub it well into 
all affected parts with the hand. 

No. 25. — Bots. — A Sure Cure. 

The presence of bots is indicated by the horse 
occasionally nipping at his own sides, and also by red 
pimples on the inner surface of the upper lip, .easily 
seen by turning up the lip. 

Take new milk 1 quart, molasses 1 quart, and give 
the whole amount as soon as the disease is certainty 
known. In 15 minutes after give of warm sage tea 
2 quarts. In 30 minutes after the tea, give 2 to 3 
pints of currier's oil, (according to size of horse;) if 
the oil cannot be had use melted lard, with 3 or 4 ounces 
of salt ; if the lard cannot be had, dissolve a double 
handful of salt in 3 pints of warm water and give it all. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 

The following recipes are offered on their merits. 
They are not all for diseases of the horse kind, but 
they all have a value for the designated object. Many 
of them have been in use for years with unfailing 
success. 

For Ringbone and Spavin. 

Aqua Ammonia - - - J^ Ounce 

Oil Origanum - - - " " 

Red Precipitate - - - " « 

Euphorbium - - - " " 

Spanish Flies - - - - i " 

Tinct. Iodine - 2 drams 

Lard - - ~ - - % pound 

Melt all together and stir till cold. Clip the hair off 
and apply the blister. Grease after two days. You 
can blister three times, one week apart. This is a sure 
cure. 

Liniment, for Sprains, Bruises, or Swelling. 

One pint Turpentine, one pint cider vinegar, four 
raw eggs. Shake well and let it stand for three days. 
Shake well before using. 



Condition Powders. 




Pulv. Root Gentian 


2}4, Ounces 


" Elecampane - 


2 " 


" Sassafras Root 


5 " 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 1 33 



Pulv. Skunk Cabbage 


1 Ounce 


" Cream Tartar 


- 1 " 


" Saltpetre - 


2 " 


" Sulphur - 


6 " 


" Fox glove - 


1 " 


" Bloodroot - 


1 Drachm 


" Ginger - 


3 Ounces 


Mix and grind well together. 




Dose : Give one tablespoonful twice a 


day. 


The Oil of Gladness. 




IN THESE PROPORTIONS. 




Alcohol, - - 


y 2 Gallon 


Spirits Nitre, - 


V2 lb. 


Aqua Ammonia, - 


- % 


Oil Sassafras, - - - . 


% 


Origanum, - - 


- iy 2 oz. 


Oil Anise, - 


% 


Chloroform. - 


- 4 



This remedy should always be kept tightly corked. 
It is widely used both internally and externally. Many 
families keep it constantly and take it in small doses 
for any ordinary disease. For headache, neuralgia, 
rheumatism, sore throat or inflammation of kidneys, 
bathe with this remedy and take one fourth of a tea- 
spoonful in a little water. For diseases of the stomach 
or bowels take internally only, twice a day. 

This remedy has been found admirable for horses 
for almost all Complaints. For sweeny, sprains, 
bruises, or swellings or any malady where the skin is 
unbroken apply as a liniment. For internal ailments, 
as colic, disease of the kidneys, etc., a dose for a horse 
is one ounce in half a pint of water, twice a day. 



1^4 the h r se trainer. 

For Horse Distemper. 

Use one tablespoonful of oil of hemlock, — pull out 
the tongue and put it on the root— it saves a drench. 
Then rub on the glands, close up to the jaws, a liniment 
made of Cedar oil, 2 oz.; Amber oil, i oz.; Hemlock 
oil, i oz.; Camphor Gum, ioz.; Saltpetre, y 2 oz.; Alco- 
hol i pint. 

To Protect the Horse from Flies and all Insects. 

Walnut leaves, 4 ozs. ; Lobelia leaves, 4 ozs. ; boiling 
water, 1 gallon. Let the mixture stand till cool, then 
express the liquid through cotton cloth, and add 4 ozs. 
of Tincture of Cloves. Apply a small quantity all over 
the body with a sponge. 

Worms. 

Take equal quantities of pulverized ginger and cop- 
peras and give a tablespoonful once a day. 

When the horse's legs are swollen, give a table- 
spoonful of saltpetre once a day for four days. 

For Collar Galls. 
Alcohol with all the saltpetre it will dissolve. Ap- 
ply when you put on the collar and when you take it 

off. 

A Wash. 

For wounds from bar/bed wire, inflamed face, fresh 
cuts or any inflammation of the skin : One tablespoon- 
ful of saleratus in one quart of buttermilk. 

This remedy looks too simple to be of any value, 
but nothing is cheaper or more convenient. Try it. 

For Scratches. 

One pint cider vinegar, adding four tablespoonfuls of 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 1 35 

sulphur. After making the ankles clean with castile 
soap and warm water, wash with this preparation. 
Three or four applications will cure an ordinary case* 

Scratches — Another. 

What will cure one horse of scratches may not cure 
another, so here are other remedies : Wash clean with 
castile soap and warm water. One ounce sugar of 
lead, one ounce burnt alum, half an ounce sulphate of 
zinc, one quart of rain water. Apply when the ankles 
are dry. In three or four days a cure is quite certain. 

For Scratches — Another. 

First keep clean. In mild cases apply linseed oil. 
If severe, take of copperas % lb., castile soap % lb., and 
the whites of four eggs. Melt all together and bind 
on every night for three nights. 

For Scratches — Another. 

Goulard's Extract - - - 2 Ounces 

Sweet Oil - - - 2 " 

Collodion - - - y 2 " 

Mix. Wash the feet well before applying. Dry the 
feet and apply. 

To Corn Beef. 

This recipe is from a practical butcher, widely 
known for the excellence of his corned beef : 

Salt, - 7 lbs. 

Sugar - - - 3 " 

Saltpetre 2 oz. 

Black Pepper - 2 " 

Saleratus 2 " 
For every one hundred pounds weight of beef. 



I36 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

Laundry Soap. 

There is often inquiry made for a recipe for mak- 
ing a good quality of soap for domestic use. Here is 
one that has been widely used and which has met 
with great favor: 

Take *]% lbs. Sal. Soda, 2 oz. Borax, 1 oz. Sul- 
phate of Soda, and 8^ lbs. good yellow bar soap. Dis- 
solve the Sal. Soda, Borax and Sulphate of Soda in 
4^ gallons soft water, till not a lump remains. Melt 
in the above solution the bar soap ; cut the soap in very 
thin slices that it may dissolve quicker. While dis- 
solving keep stirring so as to mix them well. When 
the soap is melted it is then done. Remove from the 
fire and let stand an hour, then pour into pails or lard 
firkins. A common tin vessel will do to make the 
soap in. If it is inclined to boil over, a little cold water 
thrown in will settle it. For perfumes, if desired, add 
1 oz. of sassafras, just before it is cool. 

Condition Powder For Hogs. 

There will be readers of this book who would like 
to know of a safe and effectual condition powder for 
hogs. Here is one that has been well tried and that 
has succeeded. It is palatable to swine, and they will 
eat it readily. Let them have all they will take of it 
in a trough given them for the purpose and no epidemic 
will disturb them. 

Copperas^ - - - - 1 lb. 

Sulphur, - - - 1 lb. 

Black Antimony, - - - 1 " 

Saltpeter, - - - % " 

Common Salt, - - 4 " 



MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES. 1 37 

Wood ashes. i Peck 

Grind fine, mix and place in their trough. 

Remedy for Diarrhea in young colts. 

This malady comes of acidity -of the stomach and 
bowels. Give a tablespoonful of lime water, a table- 
spoonful of paregoric and a teaspoonful of fluid extract 
of ginger in a teacupful of milk in a bottle two or 
three "times a day; oftener if a bad case. If persistent, 
substitute laudanum for the paregoric, and give brandy 
in tablespoonful doses in sweetened water several times 
a day. 

For Thrush in the Feet. 

Clean the foot thoroughly, then apply a strong 
solution of Blue Vitriol. Or, sprinkle on the sole a 
quantity of dry calomel. 

A Universal Ointment. 

Resin, 4 ozs.; beeswax, 4 ozs.; lard, 8 ozs.; honey, 
2 ozs. Melt slowly, bringing it gently to a boil. At 
boiling heat take it from the fire and slowly add less 
than a pint of spirits of turpentine, stirring all the time 
and stir till cool. 

This ointment is an extraordinary remedy for bruises 
in flesh of animals, as injured hoofs, galled backs, 
broken knees, cracked heels, or any kind of wounds. 
It is also good to take fire out of burns, or scalds, and 
to cure chill blains. 



am- 



PART EIGHTH. 

CHAPTER XL. 
THE DOG. 

THE TEACHABLENESS OF DOGS. 

The dog can be trained to do anything that an 
mal without hands or voice can do. He was the first 
creature that deserted his natural confederates and 
allied himself to man. His surrender was complete. 
He left his forest home, his independent search for 
food, made the abode of man his preference, content- 
edly accepted any food given him, and devoted him- 
self to the capture of his unsurrendered fellow creat- 
ures for the use of his master. Of all the animals that 
have at any time submitted themselves to man there 
are none that take on so readily as the dog the 
tempers and passions of man, as anger, jealousy, 
envy, love, hope, hatred and grief. He shows also 
generosity, gratitude, pride and fear. Baron Cuvier 
calls the dog, " The completest, the most singular, and 
the most useful conquest ever made by man. " 

In the dog, as in man, we prize the highest, inherited 
qualities. In both if we desire a good performer in 
any art, we select him early from a family that excels, 
and then give him the finest education in the desired 
studies. Generations of education and of good habits 
give alike to man and dog a tendency to learn, and a 
facility of comprehension, so that the dog trainer has 



I4O THE HORSE TRAINER. 

many more chances of success, and so has the dog, if 
both be from an educated ancestry. It is possible to 
bring in a densely ignorant dog and admit him to the 
aristocracy of intelligence, but one rarely has the time 
and patience for the slow process. We want the 
puppy of clean limb, of fine hair, of good eye, of bright 
intellect, and of good family. 

If you would train your own dog you must go at 
your work as you would to train your own boy. Be- 
gin early. Pre-empt his mind with thoughts and 
ambitions that you intend shall rule him while he lives. 
Do not hope to teach him everything in a week or 
two. You will save time by getting his confidence 
first. Make him believe that you are his best friend. 
Let food follow obedience till he believes they are 
cause and effect. His mistakes must not be treated 
as willful crimes. Until you get into sympathy with 
him, and until he shows his love for you, your progress 
will be very slow. The art of winning a dog's grati- 
tude and love need not be given in books. If you can- 
not invent its methods you have no gift for teaching 
dogs. 



CHAPTER XLL 

dg's PRIMARY EDU( 

Your pup should early learn the use of the collar. 
He need not wear it all the time, but it should be on 
him a part of every day, and always when he is taking 
his first lessons. He should also wear a rope or chain 
until he is well used to it and knows well the differ- 
ence between being tied and being at liberty. He 
must learn, by being tied up in a comfortable place, to 
be quite contented with the chain. If a young dog is 
tied with a rope he will soon learn to gnaw it off, and 
run away, and it will be sometime before he forgets 
that he outwitted you. 

Feed him yourself. Do not allow any one else to 
carry him his food. When he is so accustomed to all 
these steps that he is no longer restive, you can go on 
with his lessons. Now take his breakfast to him on a 
plate, and put the plate just out of his reach, so he can- 
not touch it. Bring him out now the length of his chain 
and let him taste his breakfast, pull back the plate and 
say "To-ho," the word having the accent and the falling 
inflection on the second syllable. Keep it away from 
him till he becomes quiet, say for a second or so. Then 
suddenly pushing the plate towards him, say " On, " 
repeating the lesson till he will stop eating at the 
word To-ho. He is to be patted or petted whenever 
he shows any signs of having comprehended the or- 
ders. When you have him where he will stop eating 



I42 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

at the word, put a long rope on his collar and go with 
him to walk. As he trots along and the rope drags 
after him, suddenly step on it near to him and say 
"To-ho." When he stops as he must, do not keep him 
standing, but step off the rope and say " On. " Keep 
working at this lesson till he will stop .without your 
touching the rope, without any rope at all. He is 
then ready to learn to charge. 

CHARGE. 

Take him into the barn on the floor, where there is 
nothing to attract his attention. Then with a short 
rope on his collar, place your hand on his back just be- 
hind his shoulders. Press him down to the floor and 
say " Charge. " Now begins your work. He will 
probably roll up on his side, or jump up and struggle 
to get away. Do not say a word. Place his forward 
paws before him, and his hind paws under him, and 
his tail extended out behind on the floor. Don't stop 
till he is willing to remain in this position. These 
lessons must be thoroughly taught, one at a time. He 
will come after a while to assume this posture at the 
word, charge. 

While you are teaching him to charge, take him out 
occasionally and give him rehearsals of what he has 
already learned. He has now learned To-ho, and to 
charge. Now he can learn to come to us when we 
want him. 

TO COME WHEN HE IS CALLED. 

Now the cord or rope comes in again. Let him go 
with us for exercise, and let him run and drag the 
rope after him wherever he likes. Blow on your 



THE DOGS PRIMARY EDUCATION. 1 43 

whistle and jerk on the rope to get him to look at you 
or to notice where you are. When he looks around, 
swing your arm in front of you and say, " Come in. " 
When you give the word be sure you are in position 
to take hold of the rope and fetch him to you. This is 
to be continued till he will come without any rope. He 
must often practice what he has learned, but great care 
must be taken not to confuse him by mixing up his 
lessons, of which he now has three. 

TO QUARTER HIS GROUND. 

Take him out into an open lot or field and let him 
run till he gets the play out of him and becomes quiet. 
Then call him with a whistle or a word. He will soon 
know his owner's whistle from any other. Pat him, 
cluck to him and tell him to go on. Then throw some- 
thing, when he looks, to the left, something good to 
eat, and let him go and get it. Then attract, his atten- 
tion and throw something to the right. By these mo- 
tions and by his finding his toothsome reward, he will 
become accustomed by practice to follow them. You 
will sometimes have trouble in teaching this lesson to a 
dog, and again it will be comparatively easy. It will 
be very likely to require a great deal of time and it 
will need a great many repetitions. He will after a 
while take in the object which is to scour his field well 
and find any game that may be lurking in the grass. 
In any of these lessons the dog must understand that 
all this is business and after it he may play if he wants 
to. 

TO RETRIEVE. 

It is not best to teach a dog to look for, and bring 
in the killed or wounded game, until he has all the pre- 



144 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

ceding lessons well learned. He will probably be a 
year old when he learns to retrieve and before he un- 
dertakes this lesson he should have acquired a readi- 
ness and facility in learning, and a habit of prompt 
obedience. Most dogs of good hunting stock will take 
to retrieving naturally, especially if allowed to hunt 
with a well instructed dog. 

Before he is taught anything about retrieving, 
proper, the trainer will do well to take the young dog 
out for his exercise often, and occasionally take him 
to the water in company with another dog that knows 
his business. The master should have on hunter's 
boots, and should wade around in the water calling in 
the old dog and inducing the young dog to go in also, 
so that he will not be afraid of the water. When he 
comes to where he will take the water readily and will 
follow the old dog when he is sent after anything, 
then you have him far enough in this till he is ready 
to break in the field. This can be done much more 
easily by having a well trained dog to take the lead in 
the lessons in retrieving. 

But if you cannot have the use of a well trained 
dog, give the pup his first lessons on the barn floor, 
where he cannot get away. Throw a ball or some- 
thing, and tell him to fetch it. Then if he pays no at- 
tention, or if he does not go, go to him, open his 
mouth, place the article in it, hold his mouth shut with 
one hand, and leading him back, without hurting him. 
Work gently and perseveringly till he will go after 
the piece and fetch. If the dog has developed any 
aptness at all to learn, this lesson can be better given 
in the field than in any other way. 



PRIMARY EDUCATION. 1 45 

TO POINT. 

The outline of methods here given is ample for 
one who desires to train his dog for his own use. 
But if the animal is wanted for a fine field performer 
it would be better to procure at once a professional 
trainer. Having taught him these lessons thoroughly, 
take him to the field and try him. When he strikes 
game and begins to come down, keep cool yourself. 
Walk up to him if he stops ; if he does not stop, speak 
to him, saying, " Toho, " then if he stops, walk up to him 
and pat him. It would be well to have another person 
along and let him w r alk in front and get the birds to 
rise, and be sure and get one if possible. All this 
time you are paying attention to your dog, holding 
him in position, giving him to understand that his duty 
is to find and point the birds. A very few lessons of 
this kind will make him staunch on point. 

The dog must not be allowed to range too far from 
his master. Keep him within hearing so you can 
guide him with } T our voice, otherwise you may lose 
control of him. If he gets awa}^ and runs at his will 
he will make himself troublesome. If he is well 
taught in the yard to obey he will generally be obedi- 
ent in the field. But if he should run wild in the field 
do not allow yourself to get excited over it. Keep 
cool and do not speak louder than just enough to make 
him hear. When you can get hold of him make him 
do whatever you had ordered him to do. Do not 
leave the spot till he perfectly obeys, if you have to 
stay a week. 

It is always to be kept in mind that in all contests 
between a trainer and his dog, the trainer must come 



I46 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

out ahead. Let the dog outwit you once, or disobey, 
and it may be troublesome to regain your authority 
over him. You must come out ahead eveiy time. 

The books that tell of dog training are very explicit 
and give details of management at every juncture. 
But vou must get the general idea in your mind and 
use your judgment. You will be the only one who 
knows the situation. You will also study the charac- 
ter of the dog, as the timid and the headstrong must 
each one be handled in a way to impress him, and to 
subject his will to yours. It may be necessary, before 
you finish his education, to cany a whip to the field 
and to use it with discretion. But no dog should be 
punished until he can understand well what it is for. 
Then put him through the lesson again and again till 
you secure perfect obedience. . 

A young dog often gives trouble to a hunter by 
pointing on rabbits, cats or hens. This is easily 
broken up by penning him up where he cannot reach 
these creatures and let him point them for a week at 
a time if he wants to. He will soon learn that they 
are not to be noticed. This will be a much better way 
to teach him than it w r ould be to punish him for it. 



CHAPTER XLIL 

THE SHEPHERD DOG. 

It is nonsense to try to make a shepherd dog of a 
terrier, or of a hound. In some way, who can tell how ? 
the things that a dog can learn best depend on what 
family of dog he belongs to. If you want an educated 
shepherd dog, look for a pup of that kind. The less 
he has been taught for the first half year the better. 
He can easily learn, with the aid of a cord, that he 
cannot get away from you; lesson No. I. Then with 
a strap and the word " Here," he can learn that he is 
to come when told ; No. 2. Be sure to give one lesson 
a day for about an hour, and to have one thing at a 
time to be learned, and but one word for each order 
to be given. When he comes up to you he is to be 
told, "Do," and petted, and with that word he will 
learn he is released from duty ; No. 3. Then he is to 
be taught "Go" by pointing and pushing and coaxing 
until he begins to "Go;" No. 4. As he starts he can 
begin to learn the word " Halt," by the effect of the 
rope and the word; No. 5. And if these lessons are 
well learned, in a month you can pat the head of both 
pupil and teacher. To make him bark when you like, 
you will take him when hungry and say, "Speak," 
and offer him a dainty bit. This will soon be learned. 
You can at any time teach him to go out by pointing 
to the door and saying, "Out." Each special thing 
well taught to him will be a help for him to learn the 
next. With a rope's end he can be taught to take 



I48 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

hold at the word " Up," as he will afterwards take a 
cow's tail, and with the word " Do " he will learn to 
let go. With this start you can add words as you like, 
for example, you can say, " Go, Right, " and with a 
motion, send him to the right, or to the left, teaching 
but one thing at a time, always. The word "Fetch" 
can always be kept for the sheep, " Get," for the cat- 
tle and " Bring," for the horses. You can, as soon as 
one lesson is well learned, put a few other words to 
the one-worded orders as, "Come here," "That will 
do," " Go out," " Speak to them," " Wake them up," 
"Fetch the sheep," "Get the cattle," "Bring the 
horses," etc. The practical lessons can easily be given 
with or without a trained dog. 

THE WATCH DOG. 

To train a watch dog obtain a young dog of a good 
strain for the purpose, and do all the training by the 
same hand. Follow the suggestions given above. 
Give daily, practical lessons. Give him something and 
tell him to watch it, and practice him with some 
stranger essaying to take it from him. At first make 
his lessons short and always let him begin hungry and 
feed him as soon as he is done. He very soon learns 
his duty. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE TRICK DOG. 

It is very easy to teach a mongrel cur almost any 
amusing little trick. The well descended, carefully 
bred dog will only learn the tricks of his own trade. 
The first thing to teach any dog is to come to you. 
This is easily done with a cord, suiting the action to 
the word. 

TO SIT DOWN. 

A few times setting him down, giving at the same 
time the word " Sit down, " chucking him under the 
chin to keep his head up, will give him the idea. Pat 
him and reward him, and give him frequent practice 
and it is done. 

TO MAKE A BOW. 

As soon as he has learned to sit down, use the words 
" Make a bow, " putting him through the motions 
with your hands often enough, and in a few days he 
will have it. 

TO SIT UP. 

Try him first in the corner, putting him in the posi- 
tion and telling him to sit up, and as soon as he does 
it for half a minute caress him and reward him, and 
let him end it when you tell him, " That will do. " 
You have only to repeat it often enough and try him 
against the wall, and then set him out on the floor. All 
that this will need is patience for complete success. 



I50 THE HORSE TRAINER. 



TO STAND UP. 



A hungry dog will do anything for food. To make 
him stand up, offer it to him, holding it well up and 
keep it up long enough, saying to him " Stand up. " 
Keep doing this,, giving him a lift now and then with 
your other hand, repeating the word as often as he 
tries it, and saying " That will do, " when he must go 
down. He must often rehearse all he has learned but 
the lessons should not be mixed, but let him have a 
rest between them. 

TO GET INTO A CHAIR. 

This is also easily taught. You can in many ways 
coax him into a chair, always using the w T ord " Chair " 
whenever you call him to it. After having him used 
to jumping into the chair at the word, and always re- 
warding him with caresses and whatever he likes best 
to eat, you can extend the trick by saying " Up " and 
putting his feet up on the back of the chair. This 
done, by many times trying, he will put his head down 
on his paws with the aid of your hand and the sound 
of the word " Down, " each time rewarding him. 
From this there is one step more; it is to jump over 
the chair, which you can soon persuade him to do. 

TO JUMP THROUGH A HOOP. 

The methods will suggest themselves by which the 
dog can be made to jump through your arms, your 
hands being held together. Then if he is hungry he 
will jump through a hoop at the tap of the stick, for a 
bit of meat, then successively through several hoops 
and boxes. 



THE TRICK DOG. 151 

TO GO TO THE POST OFFICE. 

Your dog can carry your mail to the post office and 
bring your mail to you as many times a day as you 
choose to send him. You can easily teach him to 
carry a stick in his mouth until you tell him to give it 
up. Reward with a good bite of food and caress him. 
Then teach him to carry a basket. He can then be- 
gin to go with you to the post office where an inmate 
of it must help you by caressing him, giving him a 
little choice food, taking the basket and changing the 
mail and putting the handle of the basket in his mouth 
and saying, " Home. " You are to sa}^, " Post office" 
to him every time you take him or send him. He will 
soon be able to go himself, wait at the door to be wel- 
corned and then set out for home. Instead of the post 
office, he will do the same for the grocery. 

He will need definite practice on each one of these, 
not mixing them up, but taking one trick at a time, 
and dismissing each one as soon as it is done, by say- 
ing, "That will do, " and giving him his reward. 

These hints will enable the beginner to make a 
prodigy of his dog in a few weeks. Other things may 
be added for all things are not equally easy to every 
dog. The greatest value to the dog will be, not in 
these unmeaning things, but in doing such useful 
things as will save human labor, or tend to the se- 
curity of property or life. 



PART NINTH. 

IMPROVE YOUR CATTLE. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

SELECTING A DAIRY COW. 

Generally, where a horse is kept, there is both room 
and necessity for a cow; and sometimes where there 
is room for but one, the cow is selected. The health 
and comfort of a family are greatly promoted by abun- 
dance of fresh milk without either chalk or water. It 
is important to every one to learn the signs by which 
nature certifies to a cow's good character. They ar6 
unmistakable. A model, useful, dairy cow may be 
known at a glance by an expert. She has a fine, long 
head, broad between the eyesj and a thin wide muzzle; 
the eyes are large and of a mild expression ; the neck 
is thin and long; the ears are thin and covered within 
with a deep yellow skin; the forequarters are light 
and thin, and the whole body has much the shape of 
a wedge, increasing in size to the rear; the legs are 
thin, with fine bone; the belly is large and deep, with 
great capacity for food; the back is broad and straight 
and the ribs are well rounded towards the rear; the 
bones of the rump are wide apart ; the tail is long and 
thin ; the thighs are thin and set widely apart ; the 
udder is large and full, especially behind ; the teats are 
of good size, and set far apart upon a broad, level 
udder, and the milk vein, so called, which is the large 



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154 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

vein leading from the udder and passing into the ab- 
domen, and which is an indication of the amount of 
blood circulation through the milk glands, and con- 
tributing to the milk secretion, should be full and tor- 
tuous in its short course. A fine horn, a deep yeJlow 
skin, and a general elegance of form, without any 
heaviness or beefiness in any part, are also important 
indications of good quality in a cow for the dairy. 

BREEDING DAIRY COWS. 

" Like begets like, " therefore, in breeding cattle 
for the dairy, select the very best milkers and breed 
them to bulls known to come from a family with good 
milk record. In purchasing a bull, it pays better to 
give a good price for a good animal, than a small 
price for a poor one. Breeding will not count for 
much without good feeding and good care. Don't 
make the mistake of supposing that a good bull is go- 
ing to double or treble the value of a common herd 
unless the cattle all have the best of care. Breed is 
largely dependent upon feed and training, and if good 
feed and training has given value to a herd, a lack of 
it will soon cause the breed to deteriorate. 

To Tell The Ages of Cattle. 

The Live-Stock Record gives a new and evidently 
a well-thought-out rule for telling accurately the ages 
of cattle, which is here appended : 

" A heifer has no rings on her horns until she is 
two years of age, and one is added each year there- 
after. You can, therefore, tell the age of a cow with 
tolerable accuracy by counting the rings on her horns 
and adding two to the number. The bull has no rings, 



SELECTING A DAIRY COW. 1 55 

as a rule, until he is five years old, so to tell his age 
after that period, add five to the number of rings. The 
better way to tell the age is by the teeth, which is, of 
course, the only' way with polled cattle. What are 
called the milk teeth gradually disappear in front. At 
the end of three years, the second pair of permanent 
teeth are well grown, at four years the third pair and 
at five the fourth and last pair have appeared, and at 
this time the central pair are of full size. At seven 
years a dark line caused by the wearing of the teeth 
appears on all of them, and on the central pair a circular 
mark. At eight years this circular mark appears on 
all of them, and at nine years the central pair begins 
to shrink, and the third at eleven. After this period 
the age can only be determined by the degree of 
shrinking generally. At fifteen the teeth are nearly 
all gone. " 

The Size of the Cow. 

There are several sizes of cow, none of which is 
agreed upon as being the best. The Jersey is the 
smallest, then we have the Ayrshire, the Holstein and 
the Durham. The largest breed will require more 
food to keep beef ready for market than does the 
smaller. When the butcher comes to buy a cow he 
will give more money for the Durham than for the 
little Jersey, but then is it economy to keep up all the 
furnaces and the food for making beef many years be- 
fore it is to be sold ? The American Dairyman says : 
" It is useless to talk about carrying large cows, with 
a view to making beef of them, when no longer useful 
in the dairy. This is sheer nonsense, though every 



156 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

other dairyman has a sneaking faith in the idea. No 
man should be so foolish as to carry several hundred 
pounds of blood and bone eight or ten years to make 
second-hand beef of it in the end. " 

It is reasonable to believe that a medium sized cow, 
say of the larger breeds 800 to 1000 lbs weight, would 
be an economical feeder, could be rushed for milk if 
need be, would require not over much room in the 
stables, would likely produce good calves, and would 
likely be of a sound constitution. With a cow of such 
size you will not have to feed the furnace for beef- 
making and keep it up for ten years before you want 
to sell the beef. Two medium cows will give you more 
than double that of an over grown one, in milk and beef, 
and will give you twice as many calves ; and the two 
cows will sell more readily than one very large one. 

Cake in Cow's Bag. 
This is one of the most common complaints in the 
cow-yard. There is no need to have it trouble the 
cow for as much as a day. Take two parts kerosene 
and one part lard. Warm, mix, apply. It is a sov- 
ereign remedy. 



CHAPTER XLV. 
VALUABLE INFORMATION. 

Many Useful Facts. 

A barrel contains 

A bushel " 

A standard gallon (liquid) contains 

A gallon (dry measure) " 

A gallon of pure water weighs 

Loaf sugar, broken, i qt. is 

White " powdered, i qt. is - 

Ten eggs are 

A common tumbler holds - 

A quart of wheat flour weighs 

A " " corn meal " 

A pint of soft butter " - 

A " " sugar " • 

A tea cup holds 

Four large tablespoonfuls equal 

A tablespoonful (large) " 

A teaspoonful " - I drachm 

Three teaspoonfuls " i tablespoon or y 2 oz. 

Sixty drops make ateaspoonful or i drachm. 

A ton of soft coal requires 50 cubic feet of space. 

A " "hard " " 46 " 

A " " coke " " 70 " 

A " " charcoal " 104 " 

A million dollars in gold coins weigh 

A " " "silver " " 



10752 


cubic inches. 


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a a 


s 231 


a a 


2684-5 


a a 


- 


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- 


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- 


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- 


1 lb. 


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- 


- 1 lb. 


- 


1 lb. 2 oz. 


- 


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- 


1 " 


- 


1 gill 


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a 


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158 THE HORSE TRAINER. 

A million dollars in small silver coins weigh 25 tons. 
A " « " 5-cent nickels " 100 " 

A ton of pure gold is worth - $602,799.21 

A " « " silver is " - - 37,704.84 

A bushel of corn will make 10 x / 2 lbs. of pork. 

TABLES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

CLOTH MEASURE. 

2*1/2 inches 1 nail, 4 nails 1 quarter, 4 quarters 1 
yard. 

DRY MEASURE. 

2 pints make 1 quart, 8 quarts 1 peck, 4 pecks 1 
bushel, 36 bushels 1 chaldron. 

apothecaries' weight. 

20 grains make 1 scruple, 3 scruples 1 drachm, 8 
drachms 1 ounce, 12 ounces 1 pound. 

AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT. 

16 drachms make one ounce, 16 ounces 1 lb., 25 lbs. 
1 quarter, 4 quarters 100 weight, 2000 lbs. 1 ton. 

LIQUID OR WINE MEASURE. 

4 gills make 1 pint, 2 pints 1 quart, 4 quarts 1 gal- 
lon, 31^ gallons 1 barrel, 2 barrels 1 hogshead. 

LONG MEASURE DISTANCE. 

3 barleycorns make 1 inch, 12 inches 1 foot, 3 feet 
1 yard, 5^ yards 1 rod, 40 rods 1 furlong, 8 furlongs 
1 mile. 

TROY WEIGHT. 

24 grains make 1 pennyweight, 20 pennyweights 1 



MANY USEFUL FACTS. 1 59 

ounce, 12 ounces i pound. This is for gold, silver 
and jewels. 

ALL KINDS OF MEASURES DISTANCE. 

3 inches make i palm, 4 inches 1 hand, 6 inches 1 
span, 18 inches 1 cubit, 21.8 inches 1 bible cubit, 2^ 
feet 1 military pace. 

SQUARE MEASURE. 

144 square inches make 1 square foot, 9 square feet 
1 square yard, 30^ square yards 1 square rod, 40 
square rods 1 rood, 4 roods 1 acre, or 160 square rods 
1 acre. 

CUBIC MEASURE. 

1728 cubic inches make 1 cubic foot, 27 cubic feet 1 
cubic yard, 128 cubic feet 1 cord (wood) 40 cubic feet 
iton (shipping) 2150.42 cubic inches 1 standard bushel, 
231 cubic inches 1 standard gallon. 1 cubic foot is 
four-fifths of a bushel. 

A BUSHEL BY WEIGHT. 

A bushel of Wheat is on an average 60 lbs. ; Barley 
or Buckwheat, 46 lbs. ; Indian Corn or Rye, 56 lbs. ; 
Oats, 30 lbs. ; Salt, 70 lbs. ; Potatoes, 60 lbs. ; Peas 
64 lbs. ; Beans 63 lbs. ; Clover Seed, 60 lbs. ; Flax- 
seed, 56 lbs. ; Timothy Seed, 50 lbs. ; 14 lbs. of 
Lead or Iron, make 1 Stone ; 21 J^ Stone 1 Pig. The 
Imperial Gallon is 10 lbs. avoirdupois of pure water ; 
the Pint, 1 % lbs. 

ALL KINDS OF MEASURES QUANTITY. 

12 things make 1 dozen, 12 dozen 1 gross, 12 gross 
1 great gross, 20 things 1 score, 196 lbs. flour 1 



l6o THE HORSE TRAINER. 

barrel, 200 lbs. beef or pork 1 barrel, 135 lbs. potatoes 
or apples 1 barrel, 280 lbs. salt 1 barrel, 200 lbs. sugar 
1 barrel, 240 lbs. lime 1 barrel, 200 lbs. fish 1 quintal, 
100 lbs. nails 1 keg. To make one box requires 50 
lbs. soap, 20 lbs. raisins, 2 lbs. cigars, 20 lbs. Soda, 40 
lbs. cheese, 25 lbs. tobacco, 62 lbs. tea, 60 lbs. saleratus, 
25 lbs. chocolate, 56 lbs. butter 1 firkin, 5 lbs. spices 
1 can, 1 100 lbs. rice 1 tierce, 2150.42 cubic inches 1 
bushel, 231 cubic inches 1 bushel, 14 lbs. 1 stone, 
43560 feet 1 acre, 100 square feet 1 square, 5280 feet 
1 mile, 24^ cubic feet 1 perch of stone, 128 cubicfeet 
1 cord. 



*j\ F^ew Good-gy© Wopg1$. 



The object of this book is to enable every horse 
owner to be the trainer and the doctor of his own colts 
and horses. Of its success the reader is now the 
judge. I also hope that the methods used will be less 
cruel to the animal and more satisfactory in their re- 
sults, for the suggestions given here. And now, if I 
were to send an emphasis back through these pages, 
it would be to urge all who handle horses : 

i. Be gentle with the colt that is not wicked but 
nervous. Perhaps hard treatment has made him sus- 
picious and timid. Some colts are frightened and will 
kick when you give them a dry straw bedding. That 
means that in the process they have sometime been 
hurt with the pitchfork. Do not think him wicked 
for he is only nervous, and is on the alert to defend 
himself. Use the pole described in chapter iv, un- 
til he understands that no touches about his body, legs 
or head, will at all hurt him. Take the pole instead 
of your hands, because the trainer may be hurt by be- 
ing too near, before the colt has learned his lesson. If 
he is afraid of the harness, or of handling in any way, 
the pole will the most certainly and most speedily 
quiet his nerves, and teach him he is in no danger. 

2. Training a colt is done more easily at the age of 
two years, than it is ever done afterwards. At that 



1 62. THE HORSE TRAINER. 

age the colt has not learned many bad habits, he is not 
headstrong, he is tractable, will more readily give up. 
Even if the owner does not need the work of the two- 
year-old, it is better to give him his lessons and once 
in a while give him exercise in the harness for the 
next year, and he will be a better horse for it as long 
as he lives. No need then of surcingle and ropes, or 
of pulling him to his knees. If the owner raises but 
two or three colts a year they can be kept as tame 
and gentle as old horses, from colthood up. 

3. I would like to make the personal acquaintance 
of persons who may be benefitted by this book, es- 
pecially if there is anything here that needs further 
explanation. My offer to go anywhere within five 
hundred miles from Chicago to cure a horse of any 
vicious habit, almost entirely at my own expense, as I 
state on page 10, will indicate to the public my con- 
fidence in my methods, It will be easily guessed out 
that my confidence is the outgrowth of unfailing suc- 
cess in that difficult form of horse-training. 

THOS. JEFF. MURRAY, 

Sandwich, Illinois. 



DEMPSEY HOOF PAD 

or FOOT CUSHION. 

Patented July 13, 1886. No. 848,283. 



View of the Bottom of the Foot when Pad and Shoe are Properly Adjusted 



IP YOUR HORSE HAS 

CORNS, QUARTER CRACK, 
CONTRACTED TENDER FEET, 

CORNS, or SAND CRACK, 

It will pay you to shoe him with the Dempsey Pad. 



DEMPSEY HORSE SHOE PAD CO., 

59 THIRD AVENUE, CHICAGO. 

The most humane appliance ever invented for the relief of 
tender feet. This pad is recommended and used by first-class 
Veterinary Surgeons and owners of fine, high-bred horses, and is 
easily put on by any good horse-shoer, and is not expensive. 



Side View of Pad and Shoe. 



Mr. Dempsey says his present invention has for its main 
object to provide an improved foot cushion for use in con- 
junction with the iron shoes for Horses, whereby the frog ot 
the foot may be kept in constant and natural action, so that 
it will preserve the foot in healthy condition. 

We present the testimonials of several parties, who are 
familiar with the practical woikings of the invention : 



From John F. Ryan, Assistant State Veterinary Surgeon, 
174 Michigan Avenue, Chicago. 

Chicago, Dec. 24, 1886. 
My experience with the " Dempsey Hoof Pad or Foot Cushion," on 
feet treated for corns, contraction, quittor, quarter-crack, chronic laminitis, 
etc., has been perfectly satisfactory. It is the best foot appliance that 
has come under my notice for the resistance of concussion. 

Yours respectfully, JOHN F. RYAN, V. S. 



From Gurney Phaeton and Cab Company, the Largest Cab 
Company in the West. 

Chicago, Nov. i, 1886. 
Mr. Dempsey : Dear Sir — We have used your Pad or Foot Cush- 
ion for about two years upon our Horses, and for corns, contracted feet, 
ender feet of all kinds, it is the best article we have ever seen. It also 
prevents slipping, and is a protection against the picking up of nails. 
GURNEY PHAETON AND CAB CO., 

45 West Adams Street. 



From First-Class Blacksmiths. 

We have used the Dempsey Pad for the last tour months. During 
that time we have applied them in cases of laminitis, corns, contracted 
feet, splints, etc., and to prevent concussion and expanded hoof. They 
have given entire satisfaction. We can recommend them as the most 
useful and common sense Pad ever introduced. 

FOGARTY & MULCAHEY, 

3161 Cattage Grove Avenue. 



I have used the Dempsey Rubber Pads for some time, and find that 
they are not to be surpassed in cases where a horse is troubled with corns, 
tender feet, etc. JOSEPH DEVEREUX, Practical Horse Shoer, 

448 W. 12th St. 



The Dempsey Pad is the best thing ever invented for tender feet. 
GRANT & TAGERTIUS, No. 3 South Wood St. 

Lowell, Mich., Jan. t, 1887. 
Having had considerable experience with trotting horses, I consider 
the Dempsey Pad a valuable article to prevent concussion, and to expand 
the feet, and know positively that it benefits greatly sore footed horses. 

BURT WOOD. 



I have used the Dempsey Rubber Pads on a mule whose feet were 
in bad shape, with good results. JOHN W. THOMAS, Coal Dealer, 

Cor. Market and Van Buren Sts. 



This is to certify that I have used a Pair of the Dempsey Hoof 
Cushions on a Horse driven in Engine Company No. 18, that had been 
condemned by the Department, and they gave grand satisfaction. I 
kept them on him, setting the shoe occasionally, until the Pads were 
worn out. After that he was shod with an ordinary shoe, and has been 
going sound ever since, and the heels are as fully developed as ever they 
were. JOHN TWADDLE, Driver on Engine 7. 



From Drivers in the Fire Department of Chicago. 
1 used a pair of the Dempsey Pads on a horse for about four months, 
and they gave entire satisfaction, as the horse could travel and perform 
his work with greater ease with them. A. A. FRITCHIE, 

Driver of Hose Cart No. 30. 



From Liverymen. 

Chicago, Jan. 4, 1887. 
I have used the Dempsey Horse Shoe Pad extensively. I have 
used them on sore footed horses, and horses suffering from splints, and 
they expand the hoof and prevent concussion entirely. I think they are 
just what is required. B. RANSOM, 3154 Cottage Grove Avenue. 



Sale Stable, Halsted and Taylor Sts., Jan. 22, 1887. 
I have owned several horses shod with the Dempsey Pad, and con- 
sider it a No. 1 appliance to use on tender and contracted feet. 

S. MONROE, Manager. 



I have used the Dempsey Hoof Cushion for some time, and they 
have given me the best satisfaction. I consider- them a success not 
only for lameness, but to prevent slipping, etc. 

JOHN McCOY, Livery, 3438 and 3440 Cottage Grove Ave. 



The Dempsey Pad Co. : — I have used your Pads on a horse suf- 
fering from corns. Previous to using them I could find no shoe or hoof 
cushion that was of any use in relieving him, and the animal was use- 
less. Since using your Pads I have worked him steadily. I consider 
them the best Pad in existence for corns and other lameness of the foot, 
and also to prevent slipping. 

J. T. GILBERT, 114 West Marble Place. 



We have used the Dempsey Hoof Cushion for some time, with the 
best results. It not only prevents and destroys concussion, but it gives 
to the foot a natural bearing which it is impossible to get with any 
other appliance yet introduced. Horse owners, try it, and derive the 
benefits arising from its use. DUNN & HILL, Geneva, N. Y. 



If you are in doubt as to the size required, put the bare foot of 
the horse upon a piece of paper and mark the outline with a pencil, 
and forward the outline to us. 

These Pads are easily put on by any Horse Shoer. For 
samples, directions, and prices, address 

DEMPSEY HORSE SHOE PAD CO., 

59 Third Ave., Chicago. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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